The Emperor's Son
by The Fiery Dragon
Summary: The Dragon is back. Along with the sequel to Emperor Richard. Rae and Rob's son gets his heart broken and becomes a pirate. Years later he has to save his parents from old enemies and confront his past. StarWars Crossover. RaeXRob. OCXOC
1. Chapter 1

Hey Guys

Thought I'd repost this chapter with some background notes.

In case you haven't read Emperor Richard here's the basic storyline. Robin gets stripped of his title as leader and gets his heartbroken by Star. He starts insisting on being called Richard, Rich or Dick. He runs away from the Titans and soon after finds out he's an emperor. He goes to his Empire and meets his parents and twin sister, Eli. While he's there he realizes he's fallen in love with Raven. Years later he meets up with the Titans again. He confesses his feelings for Rae and the two start dating. They eventually become the Emperor and Empress of Rich's empire. Some close friends of theirs from Rich's home planet, Xarth, are a brother and sister named Damian and Carrie and Eli's boyfriend Tony. It's a Star Wars crossover like this story. Finally there's a villian I made named Draconis.

Sorry it's been a while but I've had slight writer's block.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the characters and places I made up.

Read&Review

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It has been sixteen years since Rich and Raven had first become emperor and empress. Raven and Rich had three kids. Tony and Eli had a son named Mike. He had blonde hair and hazel eyes. He and Raven and Rich's daughter were best friends. Damian had a daughter named Amber. She had light red hair and grayish-green eyes. She was fourteen years old and very good friends with Raven and Rich's eldest son. Carrie was still single.

Meanwhile on Earth Starfire and Speedy had gotten married. They had a daughter. She had orange hair like her father and green eyes like her mother. Her name was Ashley. She was the same age as Rich and Raven's daughter. Beast Boy and Terra had a son. He had green hair and blue eyes. His name was Danny. He was the same age as Rich and Raven's eldest son.

Raven watched her three children from her balcony. They were playing on the ground right under it. She looked at her eldest son. His name was Jacob, but everyone called him Jake. He was fourteen years old in a few days. He was tall, muscled and well built. He had violet hair and sky blue eyes. He was the spitting image of his father.

She looked at her younger son. His name was Ethan. He was five. He too had violet hair and sky blue eyes. He was the cutest baby this side of the universe.

Finally she looked at her daughter. Her name was Opal. She was twelve. Unlike her brothers she had jet black hair and violet eyes. She too was tall, muscled and well built. She was already extremely beautiful. She was the spitting image of her mother. All three children had inherited both their powers. Raven's eyes lingered on Jake. She sighed. She felt arms wrapped around her mid-section. She leaned back against the chest of the owner of the arms.

"Something wrong sweetheart." Rich asked lovingly as he gently kissed the top of her head. "You've been quiet lately. I sense something is wrong."

"It's Jacob." Raven said turning around and facing him.

"What about Jacob?" Rich asked.

"You know what I'm talking about." Raven said. "He's inherited most of my father's genes."

"I know what you're talking about." Rich said with a sigh. "He struggles with decisions sometimes. He doesn't know whether he wants to do the right or wrong thing."

"Yes," Raven said. "The other day when he wanted to try out Mike's sword. Mike didn't let him use it. So Jake bumped into him in the hallway and pinched it from his belt."

"Well, it's probably just a phase," Rich said hoping his voice held confidence. "But nevertheless……"

"Well I'm sure it's nothing. Remember there were times when I gave in to my father's evil. Even if it was only briefly," Raven said. "Forget about it."

"No reason to fret about something that will probably just dissolve to nothing," Rich said. Raven nodded.

But neither realized just how much would come of it.

A few days later 

Jacob Jonathon (They named him after his grandfather. You know, to honor his memory.) Grayson walked through the massive palace lost in thought. He wasn't paying much attention to where he was going, but he had walked these halls so often it didn't really matter. His feet automatically took him to his room. He absentmindedly entered the room and flopped down on his bed. He stared up at the ceiling.

_I have to tell her._ He thought to himself.

You see young Master Jacob had a problem. It was pretty much a typical teenage problem. Jake was madly, no, obsessively in love with Damian's daughter, Amber. Amber's mother had passed away. Damian was now a member of the council and therefore lived in the palace with her.

He stood up and paced around his room. Suddenly there was a knock on his door. Jake was startled out of his thoughts.

"Enter." He said. A fourteen year old boy entered the room. He had black hair and brown eyes.

"Happy Birthday buddy!" The boy said handing him a present wrapped in wrapping paper with birthday cakes on it.

"Thanks Tom." Jake said accepting the present.

"You sound awfully down in the dumps for the birthday boy. What's up man?" Tom asked sitting down on the bed.

"You know what it is." Jake said also sitting down on the bed.

"Amber?" Tom asked. Jake nodded and sighed. "Are you ever going to tell her?"

"Yeah I am." Jake said. "But I just need the right time and place to say it."

"At the rate you're going that will never happen." Tom said. Jake shot him a glare. Tom laughed slightly. "Your mom has really taught you how to perfect that glare." Jake couldn't help but smile at this. "Well don't worry man. I'm sure the right moment is right around the corner."

"You think so?" Jake asked.

"I know so." Tom replied.

At that point Opal entered the room from her adjoining room.

"Happy Birthday big bro." She said giving him a hug. "Mom says we have to start to get ready. The party starts in an hour." With that she exited the room.

"See you later Jake." Tom said as he too exited the room.

Jake lay back on his bed. It was fifteen minutes later and a visit from first Rich than Raven that got him to eventually start to get ready and try to stop thinking about Amber.

Later that night 

Jake stood on a balcony that was off the main ballroom where the party was taking place. Much like his mother Jake was a loner. He preferred to be alone with his thoughts than to go to huge parties and what not. He sighed. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to find his mother behind him.

"Happy Birthday sweetheart," Raven said as she hugged him.

"Thanks mom," Jake said as he hugged her back.

"You alright Jake?" Raven asked.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm good. Just you know how I feel about huge parties and social gatherings," he said. She nodded understandingly.

"Here this is for you," she said handing him a present. He took it from her.

"You and dad already gave me a present," Jake said.

"Yeah, but that's more from your father. He picked it out and it was his idea. This is from me," Raven said. He smiled at her. "Open it." He started to carefully open the wrapping paper. "Oh rip it open. What sort of a teenager are you?" They both laughed. Jake ripped open the present. Inside was a book and a chain with a pendant.

"A book on pirates! Thanks mom!" Jake said looking at it.

"Your welcome," Raven said. "I know how much you love pirates. It's a classic. It's about one of the most, well I'm going to say well-known, pirates the empire has ever seen. His name was Hawk. It's a collection of his adventures taken from his journal. Take a look at the necklace."

Jake took a closer look at the necklace. It was of a sword. The sword had a dragon on the hilt.

"Cool." Jake said.

"Look closely at the blade," Raven said. When Jake looked closer at the blade he could make out carved into the blade the words 'The Pirate King'.

"The Pirate King. Thanks mom," He said hugging her again.

"You're welcome, sweetheart," Raven said gently kissing his cheek. "Well I better get back to the party. At least hang around the guests for a few minutes."

"But mom those aren't even my guests. I don't understand why we invite them. You hate them, dad hates them, Opal and Ethan hate them and I hate them. They're just so spoilt and snobby and what not."

"We have to because it's polite and expected. Believe you me neither your father nor I enjoy their company. We would fake sickness all the…why am I telling you this?" Raven said as she noticed Jake's eyes brighten up as she mentioned faking sickness. "Well just a few minutes sweetheart." With that she exited the balcony.

_I have to do something._ Jake thought to himself. He sighed. _I can't take this anymore. I have to tell her. And I have to tell her tonight. I'm sick and tired of having a constant heart ache. I'm going to tell her._ With that he left the balcony and entered the ballroom. He looked around. He saw Amber and Tom going on to another balcony. He headed towards them.

"Hey guys…" he began and then froze. He felt his heart shatter into a million pieces. It was as if someone had taken a giant sledgehammer and smashed his heart with it. There, in front of him, stood Tom and Amber locked in a deep and passionate make out session. He wanted to cry and scream and yell and smash things all at once. He couldn't think clearly. His mind completely shut down.

"I love you Amber." He heard Tom say. He turned on his heel and raced out of the room before he could hear Amber's reply. He ran to his room, tears escaping his eyes. He slammed his door shut and locked it. He locked the doors that led to the adjoining rooms. He sat on his bed and let his tears flow down his face. For the next half hour he cried and mentally beat himself up. Finally he lay back on his bed and started flipping through the book his mother had given him. He started to read it in an attempt to take his mind off things.

'_I can't believe how wonderful the life of a pirate is.'_ Jake read _'So carefree and peaceful. I love it. But I'm still angry that he betray me like that. He knew how much I loved Jade and yet he goes after her. And she favors him over me. It's good to leave all that behind. I know I couldn't have faced the pain that would come of being around him and her.'_ Jake put down the book. It sounded like Hawk had once been in the same situation he currently was in. For an hour or so he read the book. He was surprised at how much he and the Hawk had in common. He finally put down the book. He looked at the chain and pedant.

"The Pirate King." He muttered to himself. He sat cross-legged on his bed and meditated.

Finally he stood up and walked to his pile of presents. He fished out the one from his family and ripped it open. He gasped. Inside was a beautifully made sword. It had a dragon hilt of pure gold and the blade shone magnificently. The hilt had different colored diamonds studded around it.

He walked to his closet and pulled out a knapsack. He packed a few of his normal clothes. He attached his favorite weapons including his new sword to his belt. He took all his money. He put the chain his mother had given him around his neck and finally he put the book in his pack. Once this was done he walked to his window and used his powers to leave first his room, then his palace and finally the grounds.

Five years later 

An old fashioned ship is making its way through the sea. Along the sides of the ship in gold are the words 'The Pirate King'. Now this may seem a perfectly ordinary sight. Then all of a sudden jet boosters come out of the ship. The boosters fire up and the ship takes to the sky and is soon in space. A force field around the ship provides oxygen. The first mate started walking through the ship and headed to the captain's cabin. He was a tall man with blonde hair and green eyes. He entered the captain's cabin to find the captain lying on his hammock reading a book. Perched on the desk was a falcon.

"You're reading it again?" he asked.

"Well Demetri this is the original journal. It's really different from the one I already have." The captain replied shutting the book and sitting up.

"So, captain, where are we off to this time?" Demetri asked.

"Xarth." The captain replied.

"Xarth? Isn't that a bit…risky? I mean the security's really tight. There's only one place where you can have a ship take to space or land from space." Demetri asked. The captain laughed.

"If they haven't caught me during the last five years how are they going to catch me now?" The captain replied. Demetri nodded.

"What are we after this time?" Demetri asked.

"The royal family mantle. It's being stored in a tower outside the main palace," The captain replied. Demetri nodded again and exited the cabin. The captain walked over to his desk and pulled out what looked like a metallic slate with buttons and switches on it. It had a diamond shaped hole in it. He then took out a small diamond. He slipped it into the hole and muttered 'Xarth'.

Instantly a hologram of a map of Xarth appeared. He used the controls to zoom in and out of areas. This may have seemed an ordinary map, but it was not. This map had a detailed replica of all the planets ever discovered. It had all the nooks and crannies of the universe. The map also changed whenever the universe changed and automatically recorded new data. He handled it as if it were the easiest thing imaginable, but it had taken a long time to figure it out.

A day later 

The captain swiftly moved through the palace grounds. He was completely on his own, but no one had detected him yet. The captain was actually slightly surprised at how little security there was. He moved towards the tower where the mantle was.

Inside the room where the mantle is being stored 

The captain had easily slipped into the main room and had managed to get his hands on the mantle. He was about to leave when he heard footsteps. He quickly hid in the shadows.

A few minutes later a young girl, around his age entered the room. He could tell she was badly injured. The girl stood quietly by the door. A few minutes later he heard footsteps again. He saw the girl tense up. She remained absolutely quiet until the footsteps died away.

The girl walked into the light and the captain gasped. She was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. She had light red hair and grayish-green eyes. The girl looked at the spot where the mantle should have been. She looked around the room. Her eyes stopped at the corner he was hiding in.

"So are you going to wait for me to find you or are you going to come out and introduce yourself?" The girl said. The captain took a deep breath and walked out of the shadows and into the light.

"Hello Amber," The captain said. Amber gasped.

"JACOB!" She exclaimed.

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I know I know. I'm evil. I left it at such a major cliffy. Well tell me what you guys think and tell me if I should go on.

Read&Review. The more reviews the sooner I update.

Until we meet again.

Dragon. Out.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys!

Well here's chapter 2. Hope you guys like it.

Thanks to Tecna, BajanBoy, whiteraven12345, titanfan and Novemberscorpion110388 for being my first five reviewers.

Read&Review

* * *

Jake raced across the room and covered her mouth with his hand to keep her from screaming even louder. He placed a finger to his lips to indicate to be quiet. He let his hand drop.

"Jake." Amber whispered. "Is it really you?" Although she already knew it was. She knew it in her heart and soul. He looked slightly different, but she had known him all her childhood and could easily recognize him. He was taller and more muscular. He had cut his once slightly long violet hair and it was spiked up with gel. His blue eyes held more calmness and wisdom. But there was something else in his eyes. And it looked like darkness. He paused.

"Yeah it's me." Jake said. Before he could realize what was happening she had pulled him into a tight bear hug.

"Jake! It's soooooo good to see you again! I've missed you soooooo much!" Amber whispered.

"Amber you're choking me." Jake said pushing her away. There was a pause. "I'm going to take off."

"WAIT!" she shouted grabbing his hand. "Jake where have you been?"

"I'm The Pirate King." He stated simply. She gasped, but held on to his hand.

"Jake you need to help us." Amber said.

"Why?" he asked.

"Draconis is back." Amber said. Jake froze. "He's resurrected himself. He's a million times more powerful than before. And he's joined up with your grandfather. He's captured everyone else. Your parents, my parents and those Teen Titans people. They were here to help along with their kids. Jake you and I are their last chances."

"No." Jake said. "You are their last chance."

"Jake. They're your family. You have to help them." Amber said a bit shocked even though she knew that he was one of the most famous pirates ever.

"So?" he said. He began to walk away, but she grabbed him again.

"Jake. Alright. Maybe you won't do it for your family, but will you do it for gold?" Amber said realizing she'd have to tempt his pirate side.

"How much gold?" Jake asked growing interested.

"More than your wildest dreams." Amber said smiling. "You can keep the mantle. Brand new weaponry for your entire crew. The best in the world. All those rare and magical jewels Xarth is known for. And above all money. Tonnes and tonnes of money." Jake's eyes lit up. He was silent for a minute and thought it over. Finally he nodded.

"You've got yourself a deal." Jake said.

"Thank-you so much Jake. We'll have to go to the Dark Isle. That's where his base is. First we'll have to get a weapon that is hidden on the southern part of the island and then head north to his palace." Amber said. She smiled at him and then collapsed due to her injuries. Jake managed to catch her before she fell to the floor. He sighed and lifted her on to his back and headed towards one of the windows.

**The next day on Jake's ship**

Amber groaned as she awoke in a hammock. She looked at herself. She had bandages on all her injuries. She looked around. She could tell that she was in a cabin on a ship. She tried to sit up, but her back was on fire.

"You alright?" came a voice from the cabin door. She turned to see Jake standing in the doorway. He had a falcon perched on his gloved hand and he was gently stroking it.

"I've felt better in my lifetime, but we can discuss that later." Amber said trying to sit up, but he moved forward and gently pushed her back down.

"Rest." He said simply. "We're on our way to the Dark Isle. You better keep your side of the deal. It's practically suicide going there. My crew put up a huge fight and it's pretty much the money that convinced them. Though they're so loyal they'd probably follow me into a hell dimension." He pulled up a chair and sat beside the hammock. She nodded.

"What injuries do I have?" Amber asked.

"You back is the main injury. It's been slashed up and, literally, been burnt black. The rest are just cuts and bruises. Oh and you have a slight fever." Jake answered. As he said this he leaned forward and placed his hand on her forehead. He stared into her eyes. Then without realizing it he let his hand move to her cheek and he gently caressed it. Amber gulped.

_His hands are so gentle. She thought to herself. It feels right. It feels nice. Like he's……NO! TOM!_ She took a shaky breath. "That's all?" she asked. Jake instantly snapped back to reality. He pulled his hand away quickly.

"Yeah that's about it." Jake said. "So…um…how are things back at home? As you can imagine I've been out of touch."

"Well after you disappeared your parents spent like a year having a massive search." Amber said. "But they couldn't find a trace of you. Your parents are both really worried. Also they are supposed have named an heir. But both Opal and Ethan are refusing to be named without your permission and your parents don't really want to either." Jake nodded.

"What about you?" Jake asked. "How have you been?"

"Alright. Tom and I have been dating," Amber said. She noticed Jake looked a bit angry and sad at hearing this, but he regained his composure too soon to make anything of it.

"How long?" he asked.

"Five years on and off," Amber replied. He nodded. There was a pause. "But Jake how can you be a pirate? Pirates are horrible beings."

"Well we're different," Jake said. "We may still steal stuff, but we don't kill people or take people prisoner or destroy their homes. And furthermore we either steal rare and magical objects or steal from the filthy rich and we don't take everything so that they're broke at the end of our attack." Amber nodded. She had always noticed that 'The Pirate King' was known for stealing and sneaking around, but he never hurt people or destroyed their lives. At that point Demetri entered the room.

"Morning Captain," Demetri said. "And a good morning to you as well Miss."

"Morning Demetri." Jake said. "Amber this is my first mate Demetri. Demetri this is my childhood friend Amber."

"It's nice to meet you Miss Amber," Demetri said as he bowed to her.

"It's nice to meet you too Demetri," Amber said.

"Hmm…Amber. That name sounds awfully familiar. Jake must have mentioned you," Demetri said. He was one of two people who knew why Jake left the palace. The other person was Jake's apprentice, April. Demetri opened his mouth to say more, but he caught the look on Jake's face and quickly shut it again. He produced a bottle from his pocket. He handed it to Jake. "April says you should take this. It'll help your back heal quicker." He said to Amber. Then he turned around and exited the room.

"He seems nice," Amber said. "How'd you meet him?"

"Well um…" Jake said.

"Oh come on. Tell me," Amber said.

"Alright. But I'm skipping a bit," Jake said.

**Jake's story**

'It was two weeks after I had left the palace. I had stowed aboard a ship which had capsized in a storm near an island. I used my powers to escape the shipwreck and reach the island. That's where my pirating adventure started.'

'I collapsed when I reached land and didn't wake up until the next day. When I woke up I found myself in a cave. And that's where I first met good old Demetri.'

**Into the story  
Jake's POV**

"Hello," Demetri said looking straight at me.

"Err…Hello," I said looking at him. "What happened? I mean how did I get here?"

"I found you on the shore," Demetri said. "I brought you here. My name's Demetri. What's yours?"

"Jake," I replied. _Why hasn't he shouted 'You're the prince!' yet?_

"It's nice to meet you Jake," Demetri said. "So how did you get here?"

"Err…why don't you first tell me your story?" I said. _Maybe I can think of a story while listening to his._

"Well not much to tell. My parents were pirates. One day when we were sailing we were shipwrecked on this island. I was the only one that survived the shipwreck. Been stuck here ever since," He started.

_I felt my ears perk up. His parents were pirates. He must have been on a pirate ship at one point. Maybe he can help me become a pirate. He seems nice though. He could easily fit into the description of the pirates in my crew._

"I didn't like the blood that my parents would shed, but I enjoyed sailing and all the adventures we had. I'd love to be a pirate again, but I wouldn't kill people like other pirates do," Demetri said. "There are probably enough parts to build a decent ship, but there's no way Kai and I could build a ship on our own."

"Kai? Who's Kai?" I asked.

"He used to be a cabin-boy on a ship that also was destroyed near here. Really tough and strong chap. He wants to be a pirate in the same way that I do," Demetri said.

"This place seems to have had tons of shipwrecks," I said.

"Yeah. It's kinda a cursed place. There have been hundreds of shipwrecks. Kai, you and I are the only ones to live through shipwrecks," Demetri said. "So I told you my story. Let's here yours." Before I could even open my mouth another man entered the room. He was nearly six foot and looked extremely fierce and strong. He took one look at me before he started to shout.

"YOU'RE THE PRINCE! YOU'RE THE HEIR! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!" He shouted. Demetri also reeled around and stared at me. Well there's no point trying to hide it anymore.

**End of Jake's POV  
Out of the story **

'So I told Demetri and Kai everything. My entire crew knows that I'm the prince and heir and what not. But they know certain stuff the others don't. And no I'm not telling you that stuff either.'

**Into the story Jake's POV**

"So you see my dream is kinda the same as yours," I said.

"Well all our dreams are smashed," Kai said.

"Not necessarily," I said. They stared at me. "I share my mother's powers. I can levitate stuff and fly and what not. Now think about it. With those powers and taken the fact we have all sorts of parts we could easily build our own ship. We'll travel around and find a crew. With your pirate blood, your toughness and my powers it'll be too easy. What do you say?"

"Well we've got nothing to lose," Kai said. "I'm in."

"I'm in too," Demetri said.

**End of Jake's POV  
End of story**

"So together we built this ship. It was a rather crappy one at first. We've improved over the years using parts from all around the universe. At first we kept low. We joined up with different criminals and what not and soon we became the terror of the universe."

"Wow that's quite a coincidence," Amber said as Jake finished his story. "The fact you all wanted the same thing."

"Yeah. It was really lucky," Jake said.

"Tell me about the rest of your crew. You must have some very interesting characters aboard this ship," Amber said.

"Oh they're a hoot," Jake said chuckling to himself. "Somehow I got stuck with a ship full of extremists. I'll tell you about the others later. After you meet all of them."

"I hope our parents are alright," Amber said worriedly.

"Don't worry. I'm sure they're fine," Jake said taking her hand and giving it a squeeze.

**Meanwhile…**

Raven moaned as she sat up. She looked around her. She was in a cell. That couldn't be good. She saw Rich lying on the floor nearby. Opal and Ethan also lay on the floor. She could see that they were surrounded by other cells which were occupied by the Titans, their kids and the inner circle of friends. She walked over to Rich.

"Rich! Rich! Wake up!" Raven said shaking him. He groaned and opened his eyes. He glanced around and sat up straight.

"Rae? What happened?" Rich asked, fully awake now.

"I'm not sure," Raven replied. The two gently kissed before they both stood up.

"I take it whoever is keeping us here has no interest in becoming friends," Rich asked walking over to the bars of the cell they were in.

"This must be Draconis' lair," Raven said as she walked over to Opal and gently woke her.

"Mom, Daddy what happened?" Opal said sitting up painfully. "We're in that Draconis' lair aren't we?"

"Yeah," Raven said. "We have to try to wake the others."

"Should we wake Ethan?"

"No. Let him be," Raven said walking over to the bars of the cell where Rich was already trying to wake everyone without making too much noise.

**A few minutes later**

Rich, Raven and Opal had somehow managed to wake the others.

"Well now that everyone is up. Let's get the hell out of here," Rich said placing his hands on the bars of their cell. However as soon as his hands touched the bars he was electrocuted and flung across the cell.

"This could pose as a threat." Rich muttered as he stood up shaking his badly hurt hands.

"Indeed it might." Draconis said suddenly teleporting right in front of their cell. They all jumped about five feet into the air.

"Draconis! This is between you and me. Let my family and friends go!" Rich roared.

"Let them go?" Draconis said mockingly. "You really aren't as intellectually advanced as they say you are." With that he disappeared.

"We're just going to have to find some way to break down this cell door!" Opal said. Rich simply held up his hands for her to see. They were both badly burnt. Raven took them in her hands and healed them.

"Thanks, that feels much better," he said gratefully, giving Raven a kiss while Opal rolled her eyes.

"No problem," Raven said. "Well by the looks of it we obviously we have to use cunning to get out of this one."

"We just have to wait until the right moment comes along," Rich added. They all nodded.

**Back on Jake's ship**

"So what route are we taking?" Amber asked. Jake walked over to his desk and took out his magical map. He carefully assembled it and brought it over to her. He activated it and showed her their location.

"We are currently in the middle of the Xarthian Ocean." Jake said. "We'll go through the Cave Of Mazes. We'll have to try to make our way into the Sea of Gloom. From there we'll have to go through the Nightmare Forest. Once we're through there we just have to cross the Ocean of Darkness and get to the Dark Isle. We'll reach the southern side of the isle. It's impossible to get to land from that end due to the fact the island is quite a few feet above sea-level. So we'll have to sail to the western side which is the only side that is low enough to reach land. It'll be dangerous however seeing as how there is a line of treacherous rocks in front of the area where we can reach land. Then we'll travel south to get this weapon mom told you about. Finally we'll go north and try to take down Draconis and my grandfather." Amber nodded as she stared at the map.

"That thing is soooo cool." Amber said. "Where'd you get it?"

"Oh it's a long story." Jake said.

"We have time." Amber replied.

"Well…okay. I guess I could tell you." Jake said.

**Jake's story**

'It was soon after I had assembled the whole crew. We were caught in a storm and we managed to land on an island. We had no idea where we were.'

**Into the story**

"So no one has any idea where we are!" Jake asked rubbing his forehead. The entire crew nodded. "How is this possible? I thought you lot were SAILORS!"

"I'm sure we can figure out where we are captain," Demetri said. Jake sighed.

"Right. Demetri, Kai and I will try to figure out where we are. The rest of you stay here and repair any damage. Everyone understand?" Jake asked looking around at them.

"Understood," They all replied.

The three started heading towards the center of the island while everyone else got to work on fixing the ship.

**Twenty minutes later in the woods around the island**

"Nothing, nothing and more nothing. All we've seen is tons and tons of fierce animals," Kai said angrily kicking a rock and sending it flying through the bushes.

"OWW!" shouted a voice from the bushes. The three snapped their heads towards the bushes. A young girl around Jake's age stepped out with a rather fierce expression on her face. She had light brown hair and brown eyes. "Alright. Who's the idiot who chucked that rock at me!" she practically roared.

"Um…err…hmm?" the three boys stammered not wanting to pick a fight with the girl who looked like she wouldn't think twice about beating them to bloody pulps and feeding them to the fishes.

"Well! I haven't got all day! I've got much better things to do!" she roared again. Kai slowly raised his hand.

"Err…that was me," He said nervously. The next minute Kai had been sent hurtling through, not into, but through a tree. All the girl had done was raise her hand in the air and make a pushing motion.

"That should teach you to be more careful," She growled. She then turned to face the other two. "Hello there. The name's April. What's yours?" she asked. The two stared at her. In less than five seconds her voice and face had gone from ferocious and vicious to kind and friendly.

"Erm…I'm Jake," Jake said.

"And I'm Demetri," Demetri said

"And that guy over there who you just beat up really badly is Kai," Jake added. April looked at him carefully.

"Jake?" she said. "Violet hair? Sky blue eyes?" Jake gulped slightly. "You're the prince aren't you?"

"What makes you say that? And who exactly are you?" Jake asked wondering how someone stranded on an unknown island knew who he was.

"This isle is a magical place with magical objects on it," April said. "My father was the leader of a tribe who protected this island and the objects that are here. Unfortunately, a few years back the tribe was attacked by someone or the other. Don't really know the details. Anyways I was the only survivor. So I've continued to protect this isle on my own." April paused. "Your Majesty." She added bowing slightly.

"Firstly I'm no longer an emperor." Jake said. "And secondly why are you telling me all this."

"Milord everything on this isle will eventually be yours," April said.

"So that explains how you know who I am," Jake said.

"Besides Milord. If I had made a horrible mistake do you really think you could pinch something from under my nose?" April asked. It didn't take a genius to tell it was a rhetorical question.

"Call me Jake. What sort of things are there hidden on this island?" Jake asked.

"Things that have told me about your latest…hobby I'm going to call it." April said. "Yes. I know you are the pirate king. But I know deep down you and your crew are pure hearted."

"Your pretty smart for a kid," Kai commented. He had just risen to his feet. In the blink of an eye he had been flung through another tree.

"So I take it you're lost huh?" April said.

"Yeah. Kinda." Jake said.

**Jake telling the story**

'April took out the map and showed us where we were. She showed us all the features of the map and I knew instantly it would be a magnificent gain.'

**Into the story**

"April you wouldn't mind giving me that would you?" Jake asked. "I mean it is all supposed to be mine."

"Sorry Jake, but you're only allowed to use it in front of my eyes," April said. "The only other way to get it…" April leapt backwards a bit and drew out a light saber. "Is to beat me in combat for it." Jake was quiet for a while before drawing out his own saber.

"Fine," He said before racing at her.

April smirked. She held her ground. As soon as Jake came too close she leapt up into the trees. Jake didn't slow down for a second. He raced towards a tree and ran up the trunk and landed on a branch quite high up. He looked around scanning the surrounding forest. Suddenly he felt a foot make contact with his back and he was sent hurtling off the tree. He smirked and used the powers he had inherited from his mother to levitate in midair. He saw a flash of panic cross April's features, but she quickly regained composure.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Jake said sending a ball of energy right at April. She dodged it, but Jake sent another one that hit her square in the back. She fell behind some leaves on another tree.

Jake blasted the leaves away, but she was gone. He was searching for her when suddenly a rock hit him on the head. He spun around to find her grinning at him. He raced at her and she spun around and started to leap from tree top to tree top, moving in a big circle. He sent energy balls at her but she expertly dodged them. After a few minutes of this he suddenly realized what was happening. He landed on a tree branch. He sat down cross-legged and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Give it up April," Jake said calmly. "A rather smart and effective tactic I might add. Tire out your enemy by making them chase you."

Almost immediately he sensed someone coming at him from behind. He stood up, spun around and pulled out his light saber. April had pulled out her saber and brought it down towards Jake's head. Jake raised his saber and blocked the attack. The two leapt from tree to tree throwing and blocking attacks. They threw magical energy balls and put their full potential into each attack. After a while Jake managed to slash April's saber in half. But before he could take advantage of this April took out a sword. She managed to slash his saber in half. Jake took out his own sword.

So now the two leapt from tree to tree fighting with swords. Finally Jake managed to slash at April's mid-section. April gasped stumbled backwards off the tree and plummeted to the ground. She smashed on to the ground. Jake felt his eyes widen. He leapt down from the trees and landed beside her. She was trying in vain to sit up and calm her breathing.

"Well" she gasped. "I guess you won the map fair and square. You can take it and go if you want."

"And leave you here injured and bleeding?" Jake said. "What sort of an inconsiderate son of a bitch do you think I am?"

"I'll be f…" April began, but Jake placed his hand over her wound and healed it. She stared at it for a while. "How? Oh off course. You must have inherited your mothers healing abilities as well."

"Yeah, but I'm not that good at it," Jake said. "I can stop bleeding and heal very basic injuries, but I can't fix broke bones or anything like that." She nodded and sat up.

"I must say that was really impressive. It's been a while since someone even came close to beating me in combat."

"Thank-you. Are you alright?" Jake asked.

"I'm fine, thank-you," April said standing up. "Well the map is yours to take. Then you can go on with your journey. And I will continue to live here guarding this land. All alone." Jake looked at her. Her tone had become soft, lonely and sad.

"Why?" Jake asked. She stared at him questionably. "Why do you have to stay here all alone?"

"Because it's my duty to protect the treasures here," April said. She sighed. "I wish I could come with you. It would be so cool. It would be so adventurous and exciting."

"Why are you protecting this place?" Jake asked. "You're a teenager. You should be having fun and hanging out with friends. You should be enjoying yourself. Not sitting on an island spending every waking moment protecting the items on it."

"So what do you think I should do?" April asked.

"Leave," Jake replied simply. April stared at him.

"WHAT!" she practically screamed. "I can't just leave."

"Why not? I mean the items must be hidden. Right?"

"Yeah. They are very well hidden. But I don't know…" she trailed off.

"Come on. The island will be fine," Jake said. He could tell she was contemplating it.

"Alright, but on two conditions," April said after awhile.

"Shoot" Jake said.

"One we come back every so often," April said.

"Sure thing" Jake said.

"And two. I want you to train me as your apprentice," April said. Jake looked a little startled at this. "I mean you're really powerful. I could tell you were holding back. Please."

"Okay. I'll do that. But fair warning I've never trained someone before," He said. She smiled and flung her arms around his neck and gave him a tight bear hug.

"Thank-you," April said smiling.

**Jake telling the story**

'Anyways April gave us some of the weapons and supplies on the island. And we set off. April is currently my apprentice and like I promised we return to the island every so often.'

**End of story**

"Wow" Amber said. She smiled at him. "Thanks for telling me."

"You should rest." He said patting her shoulder. She nodded. He stood up and left the cabin softly shutting the door behind him. He leaned against the door and sighed. "Fuck" he muttered to himself. "What the hell have I got myself into?"

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Well that's chapter 2. Read & Review. The more reviewsI get, the faster I update.

Until next time.

Dragon. Out.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys

I know it's been a while since I last updated and it's probably going to be even longer before the next update. My granddad is really sick and he's gone into a coma. He may not make it so we're probably going to fly into his hometown. So it might be a while until we meet again. I just thought I'd post this chapter. Please review.

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**The next day **

Amber stared out of the window in the cabin at the sunset. April was right. The potion had done wonders for her back.

"You should be resting," came a female voice behind here. She turned around to find a girl her age standing against the doorframe. She had light brown hair and brown eyes.

"I take it you're April." Amber said.

"And I take it you're Amber." April said. She put out her hand and Amber shook it. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Amber said. "Thanks for the potion. I feel as good as new." April flashed her a 'yeah right' look before slapping her back gently. Amber cringed in pain. "Well nearly as good as new."

"Well, I'm glad you two have met." Jake said entering the cabin. His falcon was perched on his shoulder.

"Morning Jake" Amber said.

"Morning Master" April said.

"No need for formalities when we aren't in public." Jake said.

"Morning _Jake_" April said again. Jake smiled.

"Glad to see you up and about." Jake commented looking at Amber. "Would you like some breakfast?"

"Breakfast would be nice." Amber replied.

"I'll bring some down." April said heading to the door. "Jake, you want some?" Jake nodded. He started to lightly stroke his falcon who had hopped on to his hand.

"What's its name?" Amber asked watching the bird.

"Striker" he replied. "Want to stroke him?"

"Err…will he peck me to death or anything?" she asked nervously.

"Don't worry he won't," Jake said. "He's really friendly." He held out his hand and Amber cautiously put out her hand and gently stroked the bird.

"He's beautiful" Amber commented. Jake smiled.

"You want to hold him?" he asked. She nodded. He smiled and gently took her hand and made a jerking motion with his hand to motion for Striker to move on to her hand. Striker moved on to Amber's hand, but neither noticed. They were both staring at each other, both feeling electricity buzzing through their hands. Striker waited patiently for his master to return his notice to him. Suddenly the door was flung open and April entered with two trays of food.

"Breakfast" she said. "Jen has ordered me to make sure you eat all of it. She claims that you don't eat enough." she said to Jake.

"Thanks April" Jake said taking the trays from her. He looked at Amber and then nodded at the hammock. She sighed and climbed into the hammock. She had learnt the day before that it was pointless to argue with him about resting. He placed the tray on her lap and seated himself in a chair.

"So Jen is who exactly?" Amber asked as she attacked the eggs.

"Our cook Jennifer," Jake replied. "We found her and her twin brother Troy on an island. They were also pirates before. They had been shipwrecked. They were driving each other insane. Troy really is rather annoying at times. Jennifer is really sweet, but she has quite a temper. Jennifer's is an absolutely amazing cook. Troy on the other hand is an absolutely crappy cook. But he gets really sensitive about it so if he produces anything just stuff it in your mouth, smile and nod along." Amber nodded. They continued to eat sharing small talk, April occasionally pinching something off Jake's plate.

"So how close are we to the Cave of Mazes?" Amber asked finally.

"We should be there in about an hour," Jake said as he stood up and picked up both his and her trays. "Rest some more." With that he and April exited the cabin. Amber stretched out on the hammock and shut her eyes.

Jake and April walked out of the cabin. Jake walked absentmindedly towards the deck. April placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned towards him.

"Can I talk to you for a sec?" she asked. He nodded and followed her to her cabin.

"What's wrong April?" Jake asked.

"She's the one isn't she?" April asked. Jake was quiet for a while before nodding. April looked at him sympathetically before leaning forward and squeezing his hand. She knew how hard this subject was for him to deal with. Having Amber there was torture for him. Jake sighed.

"April what am I going to do?" he asked. She remained silent. It was a rhetorical question and she knew it was. "God…I still love her April. I still love her. It's been five bloody years and I still love her. I tried to stop loving her, but I couldn't. I just couldn't."

April leaned forward and hugged him tightly. Jake sighed and hugged her back. April was more than just an apprentice to him. She had been a cross between a little and big sister to him. She was his confidant and he loved her dearly. He pulled away and sat down on a chair.

"I'm so confused" he muttered.

"I know you are," she replied crouching on her legs in front of him. "Jake you want my advice?" she asked. He nodded. "I think you should tell her how you feel."

"WHAT!" he shouted standing up straight, in the process banging their knees together and throwing her off balance and on to the ground. "Sorry" he muttered helping her up. "But how can I just tell her!"

"Listen Jake," April said slowly. "At this point for all you know she could have feelings for you. And I know she's with that other guy, but…" she sighed. "You never know. Besides she may well dump that other guy for you."

"Why would she do that?" he asked.

"Because Jake, you're a great guy," she began, well accustomed to his tendency to bring himself down. "You're smart, you're funny, you're brave, you're strong and you're handsome. You're perfect." She smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Thanks April" Jake said giving her a hug. He kissed the top of her head. "I better go talk to Demetri about our location." She nodded and he headed towards the door.

"Jake," she called. He turned and looked at her. "It's going to be okay." He smiled.

"Is it really?" he muttered as he left. He said it to himself, but she heard it. She was quiet for a while watching the door.

"I don't know Jake," she whispered. "I don't know."

Jake walked up to the deck. Demetri was standing by the mast staring out at the sea.

"Demetri how much longer?" Jake asked.

"About three quarters of an hour" Demetri replied. Jake nodded. At this point April joined them. She noticed that Jake looked a bit worried.

"What's wrong Master?" she asked. She always called him Master, except when they were alone.

"We're approaching the Cave of Mazes" Jake answered.

"What exactly is the Cave of Mazes?" she asked. He looked at her with a surprised look on his face. She usually knew about this stuff. "I've heard of it, but I've never heard why exactly it's so dangerous. And you haven't taught me anything about it."

"It's a subterranean cave," Jake replied. "As the name suggests it's a giant maze. It's got a thick smog inside the cave. There are jagged rocks all around the cave and the cave itself is extremely narrow. Plus there are some creatures…" he trailed off.

"Creatures? What sort of creatures?" April asked.

"I don't know," Jake said after a pause. April eyebrows raised. Jake was surprisingly knowledgeable when it came to the sea, that is taking into consideration the fact that he had been sailing for only five years. If Jake didn't know it, few people did. "None of the people that have met these creatures have lived to tell the tale. Not even the Hawk ventured into that cave." April nodded. The two remained silent watching the sea that they both loved so much.

**45 minutes later**

Jake, Amber and April stood on the bridge of the ship all staring at the mouth of the cave they were approaching. Demetri was at the wheel with Jake's special map. The map showed a path to get through the cave and into the Sea of Gloom.

"I hope we don't run into any of those creatures" April said casually. Jake nodded. They all had various weapons attached to their belt.

"You think you could handle an attack cause you could just stay in the cabin…" Jake began looking at Amber.

"Jake I'm fine," she said cutting him off. He looked at her and finally nodded.

The ship slowly entered the cave. After only a few seconds they were all stricken by the thick fog in the cave. They could barely see two feet in front of them. The ship moved at a slow pace through the water, Demetri carefully following the path the map was showing him. The others were all keeping a lookout for rocks and creatures. There were a few rocks here and there, but no sign of any creatures.

**After nearly half an hour **

"Still no sign of any creatures," April said quietly. "Do you think it's just a myth. These creatures I mean." Jake nodded.

"I guess…" he began, but they never found out what Jake had guessed because at that very moment something leapt out of the water and landed on the deck. Everyone spun around to face it.

If there were any creatures in this cave this certainly was one of them. It let out a noise between a growl and a croak. It was a slim covered thing. It had a similar shape to a human but it had dark green skin. It was unbelievably ugly. It had a long tongue that was sticking out and touching the floor. It had gills and its feet were fins. It had long sharp claws the size of daggers and there were horns all over its face, chest and shoulders. It had huge glowing eyes that resembled head lights. They all stood frozen staring at the creature all blinking at the thing.

"Well what the hell are you waiting for!" Jake shouted finally. "Get it." The entire crew snapped back to reality and charged at the thing. It leapt into the air and on to the top of the mast. "After it!" Jake exclaimed as some of the crew started to climb the mast while others pulled out bows and arrows and started to fire. "Come on!" Jake shouted.

"JAKE! Behind you!" April shouted.

Jake turned around and saw another one of the creatures leaping at him. Before he could react Amber leapt into the air and kicked the creature square in the chest. She landed on the deck and groaned slightly touching her back. Jake raced forward, pulled out his sword and stabbed the thing. The thee stared at the dead thing in front of them. A shout brought them back down to Xarth. They spun around and saw to their horror that thousands of creatures were leaping on to the ship. They heard growls behind them and spun around to find hundreds of creatures climbing on to the bridge behind them. They exchanged glances before racing at the creatures.

The entire crew was bravely fighting the things. There were millions of them. And to make matters even worse the fog had increased making hard to see the deck from the bridge. But the crew was doing pretty well. They were all pretty beaten up, but they were all alive where as a countless number of dead things lay about. Suddenly a whole bunch of things launched their tongues at the ship and started pulling it down. The ship smashed against some rocks. The ship tilted to one side. Amber and April managed to grab on to things, but Jake was sent hurtling over the edge. He managed to grab on to the railing around the bridge. He held out his hand.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" he shouted summoning up bits of wood and using them to cover the gap in the ship.

He then used his powers to push the creature's tongues off his ship. He then pushed them into the water. The ship straightened up and Jake was about to climb back up when one of the creatures he had missed lashed out with its tongue and grabbed his leg. It started pulling him down into the water. He could feel his fingers starting to slip and just as his grip gave way he felt a hand grab his. He looked up to find Amber holding on tightly to his hand.

"For a bunch of overgrown mutant frogs they sure are strong!" she exclaimed pulling out her dagger. She held it by the blade, aimed and let it fly. It sliced right through the creatures tongue and Jake and Amber jerked forward and back safely o to the ship.

"Safe," muttered Jake. He looked up at the approaching creatures. "Or as close to safe as we're going to get." With that the two leapt back into battle.

Jake was fighting off creatures, shouting orders and watching Amber all at the same time. He could tell her back was hurting her and she was having a really hard time. Unfortunately one of the things noticed it as well and leapt at her back and fiercely lashed at it with it's claws. Amber cried out, stumbled backwards and fell off the bridge and on to the hard deck.

"AMBER!" Jake shouted leaping off the bridge and on to the deck. He fiercely slashed at an approaching thing with his sword, hopping its head right off! He knelt down beside Amber and placed his hand on her cheek. "Amber?" he whispered quietly.

"Jake…my back" she muttered cringing in pain.

"It's okay," he said. "I'm here." Meanwhile several creatures had started to approach them. Amber lost consciousness. Jake looked up at the creatures. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!" he roared fiercely. He raised his hands. "AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

The result was instantaneous. The entire ship was covered in a black shield and there were several splat noises at creatures smashed into the shield. Next balls of black energy appeared out of no where and attacked all the creatures, completely disintegrating them. This continued until each and every creature on board was destroyed, including the already dead carcasses. Net the ship started moving through the water at an unbelievable speed until about ten minutes later they exited the cave and entered the Sea of Gloom. At this point the shield disappeared and Jake collapsed on top of Amber.

**A few hours later **

Jake woke up with a slight stinging near his eye. He was lying on a hammock. He opened his eyes to find Amber dabbing a cloth near his eye. It had something on it that stung slightly.

"Glad to see you're up," Amber said smiling at him.

"You should be resting," he said immediately. Amber chuckled slightly.

"I'm fine," she said. "April managed to make some more of that potion. My back feels much better. I must say that apprentice of yours is very efficient. She's made sure everyone has had injuries attended to and has set a course through this sea we're in." Jake chuckled.

"That's our April," he said. Amber smiled at him and raised the cloth again. He held up his hand. "It's okay. I can do that."

"No it's okay," she said dabbing his face again. "Besides I owe you. April told me about that powerful attack you pulled to save me. Thanks. Still can't believe I messed up like that though." She chuckled slightly.

"Not your fault," Jake said sitting up as best he could in a hammock. "You were severely injured going into the battle. And come on it took a lot of guts to go into a fight against such weird creatures with your back in that condition. I always admired that about you. No matter how hard the enemy hits you, you always get back up." Amber smiled.

"Thanks Jake," she said. "Too bad I missed you little display." Jake chuckled.

"Not the first time you've missed one of my 'little displays' as you call them. Remember the Thanksgiving turkey incident?" He said with a laugh.

"I'm actually a little glad I missed that particular display," Amber said also laughing. "Remember the time we went all over looking for the perfect gift for Opal? And I told you to write her a story and you kept saying no and…"

"In the end I did write her a story and she said it was the best gift ever." Jake said finishing her sentence. They sat in silence for a while just staring at each other and remembering all the things they had done as kids.

"I've missed you Jake," Amber said leaning forward and giving him a hug. This time instead of pushing her away he gently hugged her back. "It's been tough not having my best bud around."

"Well you've had Tom," Jake said hoping that she didn't notice the fact that he practically spat out the name. Luckily she didn't. She pulled away and they smiled at each other.

"Yeah, but…" she trailed off. She looked away from him. He leaned forward, cupped her chin and turned her head towards him.

"What?" he asked gently.

"Well the thing is…" Amber began, but before she could tell him the door swung open and Jake quickly pulled his hand away.

A tall girl walked in. She looked a little younger than them. She had long blonde hair and green eyes. She walked up to the hammock and pushed Amber off the chair she was sitting on and on to the floor. She stood next to Jake. Amber stood up hand on back. She curled her other hand into a fist and raised it up, but Jake shot her an apologetic and pleading looking. Amber dropped her hand and leaned against the wall. The girl encased one of Jake's hand in both of her hands.

"Jakey are you alright?" she asked. Amber raised her eyebrow at this.

"I'm fine Angela," Jake replied pulling her hand away from her.

"I can't believe you put yourself though that pain. I would never make you do that to yourself!" the girl said shooting a glare at Amber who simply glared back.

"No one made me do anything," Jake said immediately. "I chose to use my powers. Now if you would be so kind as to leave me and Amber alone." Angela nodded and turned to leave the room. At the door she shot him a flirtatious look and left. Amber walked to the hammock and sat down in the chair again. They were silent for a while.

"So she seems nice," Amber said finally sarcasm dripping from every word. Jake sighed.

"Sorry Amber," Jake said placing his hand on top of hers. "Should have warned you. Angela has a bit of a crush on me. And she tends to get a little jealous."

"Little being the understatement of the century," Amber stated.

"Well look on the positive side," Jake said. "She just pushed you out of a chair. Once she saw April giving me a hug so she pushed her off the bridge and into the water."

"That's not sooo bad," Amber said hand still on her back.

"It was winter," Jake said. "And we were in the Sea of Ice Water. She had the most dreadful cold for over a month."

"Okay that was pretty bad," Amber admitted.

"Yeah," Jake said thinking back to the incident. He chuckled. Trying to get Amber to rest was nothing compared to trying to get April to rest. "Well April has a 'Kill Angela' club. Talk to her if your interested in joining." They both laughed. "Well we better go see where we are."

Amber nodded and the two stood up and started to leave the room. Jake glanced at himself in his mirror an saw that he ha a deep cut that started on top of his eye and moved down the side of his face. He winced slightly. He noticed Amber too had a cut across the bottom of her face. They both probably had more…

The two walked up to the deck to find April looking out at the Sea of Gloom. It really did live up to its name. The water was pitch black. And not just that the entire air around the area was gloomy and doomy (know that's technically not a word). They both instantly felt depressed and worried and unhappy. Jake quickly shook it off. His mother had trained him, Opal and Ethan in hiding their emotions. That plus years of being a cold pirate had made him an expert at hiding his feelings and emotions. But the urge was immensely strong. Even he was having trouble keeping it back. This may be bad……

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Well that's chapter three. Hope you guys liked it. Like I said it might be a while until we meet again.

Until then.

Dragon. Out.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys

The Dragon is back. I know it's been a while, but like I said in the last chapter that my grand-dad was really sick. Unfortunately he passed away the next morning. After that I just couldn't bring myself to sit and write anything. My grand-dad used to always support everything I did and he used to love the fact that I wrote stories, so I'm dedicating the rest of this story to him.

I hope you guys like it.

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"Hey April," Jake said. April turned around and he was immediately struck by how sad and miserable she looked. "April what's wrong?" he asked concern in his voice.

"I'm the only one left of my tribe," April said practically in tears. Jake stared at her. April never cried. "My parents and grandparents are all dead. All my friends are dead. Everyone I grew up with is dead. Dead! Dead! DEAD!" Jake stared at her like she'd suddenly sprouted another head.

"Jake," Amber whispered from behind him. He turned around to find her in the same state as April. "Jake I'm sooo sorry I messed up during the battle and caused you to get hurt. I can't believe I let Draconis' guards beat me up sooo badly that night. What if we never find and save our parents! What if he's torturing them or he's killed them!" Jake stared at her. He was freaking out slightly by now.

"Don't worry Amber I'm sure they're fine," Jake said reassuringly.

Meanwhile 

Raven and Rich were sitting on the floor of their cell. Raven and Rich were playing chess. Opal and Ethan were playing Uno in the corner.

"Let me get this straight," Rich said as Raven took his knight. "None of us managed to get a single weapon in, but somehow you managed to sneak in three packs of cards, two packs of uno, a checker board, a battleship board and a chess set. How is that possible?"

"Ethan had them all in his backpack," Raven replied. "While you three were taking a nap I got them from the guards in exchange for teaching them how to play hopscotch." Rich raised an eyebrow at this. "They appear to have been rather deprived." She explained. Rich nodded and grimaced as she checkmated him.

Back on Jake's ship 

The two girls were still going on about all the bad things in life and Jake was still trying to calm them down.

"Errr…alright you two calm down," he said trying to keep his cool. The two just continued going on about how depressed they were. "Please calm down," he begged in earnest, but it was to no avail. For nearly five minutes this went on before Jake finally grew impatient, raised both hands and slapped them across the face.

"Oww" they both said rubbing their cheeks.

"What the hell was that for?" April asked angrily.

"For not shutting up," Jake said. He saw the girls thinking back and taking on slightly confused faces as they remembered their behavior. "Go to the cabins and rest. You're both probably just tired." The girls nodded and walked off. Jake stared after them. The only thing that was freaking him out even more than Amber and April's little display was his own urge to feel depressed and cry and what not. He shook his head and looked around. He saw Demetri standing by the railing and walked up to him.

"Demetri do you know…?" he started but stopped as he saw the look on Demetri's face.

Before Jake knew what was happening Demetri had started a looonnnggg lecture about how depressed he was. When he finally pulled himself away he received similar lectures from both Troy and Jennifer both talking at the same time. He raced to his cabin going through similar conversations with all the members of his crew. He finally reached his room and quickly slammed his door shut. Amber who was dozing in his hammock jerked awake and nearly fell out of the hammock.

"What wrong Jake?" she asked gloomily. "Oh let me guess. Everything?"

"Oh not you again," he muttered as he started going through his books. He saw Amber fiercely shaking her head, no doubt trying to shake off the urge to feel depressed. "Even Eliza isn't talking enough sense to figure it out."

"Eliza?" Amber asked.

"Our resident genius," Jake answered taking down a book and starting to flip through it. "An old sailor. When her old captain didn't pay any attention to her warnings they ended up getting shipwrecked. We agreed to help them, that is in exchange for a bit of money. We didn't reveal our identity, but Eliza figured it out. I was so impressed I offered her a place on my crew. She accepted and that's that."

"I see," muttered Amber. "Tell me how you met that Angela girl."

"Well technically I met Angela in a mall," Jake began "She's a typical fashion model. She caught me trying to pinch a ladies purse to buy supplies. This was still when I was lying low. She followed me and confronted me later. She was pretty tough too. You see she got my attention by slashing my leg slightly with a thorny root which she picked up. I still actually have the scar. I knew I could escape from her so I told her why I had pinched the stuff. She was interested in becoming a 'parrot' as she called it. So I let her join the crew. She's pretty helpful. That is when she isn't too worried about breaking a nail. But the most annoying thing is that she keeps hitting on me…and pushing the other female members of my crew overboard." Amber nodded slightly.

"So what are you looking for?" she asked voice still a bit depressed.

"This," Jake said taking a book off the shelf. He opened the book and started to read aloud. "The Sea of Gloom. This is one of the most difficult of seas to cross. This is due to the magical air around it that causes anyone who takes in the air to become unbearably depressed. They become so depressed they can't even sail." He shut the book with a snap. "This may be bad."

"Wait a second," Amber said taking the book from him and opening it again. "How come it doesn't affect you?"

"Mom," he replied simply. She looked up slightly confused. "She taught me how to hide my emotions." Amber nodded slightly.

"So then you'll just have to get us out of here," she said. He nodded.

An hour later 

Jake was at the steering wheel of the ship. He had just passed the most difficult hour of his life. Everyone else was lost in a deep pool of depression. Jake picked up and drank his thirteenth glass of coffee. He had had to keep drinking coffee to stay alert enough to fight off the need to be depressed. It seemed along with depression the sea also made one extremely tired.

"Just a little further," Jake muttered to himself. He could see the Nightmare Forest ahead of them. It was only about ten minutes away. "Hopefully nothing will go wrong."

Five seconds later Jake cursed himself for breaking the golden rule of every adventurer. Never say 'nothing will go wrong' because something definitely will. At that point a GIANT squid rose out of the water and glared at the ship.

"Shit!" he muttered. He raised his hand in the air and lined it up with the squid. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" he shouted as he fired a ball of energy at the squid. The ball hit the squid and it barely flinched. "Son of a bitch!" he muttered. The creature raised a huge tentacle and brought it own towards the ship. Jake quickly put a shield up around the ship that just barely held up as the squid hit it. He took a deep breath and raced across the deck and leapt into the air. He knew the rest of his crew was tooo depressed to even realize they were in danger.

Jake used his powers to fly into the air and race at the squid. He raised his hand and muttered a spell which created a huge ball of energy in his hand. He sent it flying at the beast. This had a much better effect than the first energy ball and the creature staggered backwards, but quickly regained its footing. It let out a roar. It raised another tentacle and tried to hit Jake who easily dodged it. But at the same time it raised another tentacle. It held up the underside to reveal spikes all across it. Then with a grunt several spikes were sent straight at Jake. Jake flew around dodging them as best he could. Three stray ones headed towards the ship. Jake swooped down, his eyes following them. Two fell into the water, but the third was heading straight at the deck. He used his powers to quickly grab hold of the huge spike and change its direction. He sighed and turned around. Unfortunately he noticed the tentacle heading at him a little to late. It hit his boy with full force and sent him hurtling into the water.

The beast turned its attention towards the ship thinking the young boy it had been fighting was long gone. But then again it didn't know our Jake now did it. Jake came bursting up through the water roaring a spell. He created a beam of power which it shot at the beast's raised tentacle. The creature roared as the beam went straight through its tentacle. It turned on Jake and glared bloody murder at him. Jake glared back. The creature leapt into the air and started spinning its tentacles around like a giant fan. Jake barely managed to dodge the attack. The squid hit the water still spinning. It created a giant wave that caused the nearby ship to tilt slightly. Jake quickly caught it with his powers and set it straight. The squid attacked him again with tentacle, but this time he managed to throw up a shield around himself that protected him from the attack. He said another spell that created magical knives and sent them straight at the squid. The knives pierced its skin and the squid stumbled backwards. Jake started creating energy balls one after the other sending them at the squid. They hit the squid dead on and a thick layer of smoke was formed in the air. Jake stopped and waited for the smoke to clear.

Just as Jake thought he had won the squid came leaping out of the smoke and started swinging all its tentacles at Jake. Jake managed to dodge the attacks, but suddenly the squid leapt backwards, raised four powerful spiked tentacles and fired the spikes at Jake. Jake dodged the attacks as best he could, but he noticed that huge spike a little tooo late. He moved sideways, but it came and slashed deeply across his chest. Jake let out a cry of pain and started hurtling downwards towards the sea, but the beast caught him in one of its tentacles.

Meanwhile on the ship 

Amber who was seated on the bridge watching the battle suddenly something clicked in her head.

_Jake…squid…danger…JAKE IN DANGER!_ she thought to herself. Instantly she felt herself waking up from her depression. "JAKE!" she screamed. She muttered a spell and she started levitating towards the squid. She muttered another spell that created a ball of energy in her hand. She threw it at the squid's tentacle that was holding Jake. The ball hit dead on and the squid dropped Jake's bloody body. Amber levitated towards him and caught him before lowering them both on to the deck.

"Jake we have to do that power combination spell Master Obi-Wan taught us," she said taking his hands, intertwining their fingers. Jake muttered a curse that Amber wished she hadn't heard. "Come on Jake. Just one spell." Jake focused and raised his hand along with his.

"AZARATH, METRION, ZINTHOS!" shouted Jake at the same time that Amber shouted a spell of her own. A powerful white and black beam of energy burst from their connected hands and headed straight at the squid. The energy hit the squid in the center of its head and went right through the squid's head. Finally the energy beam stopped and after a second the giant beast crashed into the water. The last thing Jake remembered of the day was his back hitting the deck and Amber calling his name.

Meanwhile with Raven and Rich 

"JACOB!" Raven screamed as she lunged forward from her meditation position. She was sweating slightly and breathing hard. Rich who had also been in a meditation position returned to reality with a start.

"Rae?" he said as he watched her trying to catch her breath. "What's up?" he asked wondering why she had suddenly screamed their eldest son's name. Especially since he had disappeared five years ago.

"I had a sort of vision," she said her voice calm again.

"What did you see?"

"I saw Jake," she said quietly. "I know it was him I saw. He looked older. He was on a ship and he was attacked by a giant squid that could shoot spikes out of its tentacles. He was fighting it all by himself and he got hurt. One of the spikes slashed his chest practically off. The squid was going to kill him. And then I saw Amber. She saved him and they beat the squid with a power combination spell. Then Jake collapsed onto the deck."

"And that was the vision?" Rich asked. She nodded. They were quiet for a minute.

"Rich," Raven said finally. "There is only one place that has that kind of a squid. The Sea of Gloom. Rich if that vision was true that means he's coming. He and Amber are coming to save us." Rich was quiet.

"What if this vision isn't true?" he asked. "I mean not all your visions come true." Raven nodded. She knew he was right. She gently placed a hand on his cheek.

"A part of you is being realistic," she said quietly. "But a bigger part of you doesn't want to get your hopes up. It was a hard blow on all of us when he left." Rich shook his head slightly.

"He never left," he whispered. "When you say someone has left it implies that they've gone forever. Our Jake isn't gone forever. He's just…"

"on vacation" they said at the same time. They smiled. The night Jake had disappeared Obi-Wan had said that Jake had just gone on a 'nice long vacation' and since then that was what his disappearance was referred to as.

"I wish we knew why he left," Raven said sadly. Rich nodded.

"Something must have happened the night of the party," Rich said. She nodded. "Remember Opal said that she thought she saw Jake running out of the hall with tears streaming down his face."

"Yeah," Raven said. She laid her head against Rich's shoulder. "But Opal said that was only a few minutes after I was talking to him on the balcony and he appeared to be fine at that point. What could have happened in a space of so little time that would push him to leave like that?"

"He must have seen or heard something that made him immensely depressed," Rich said.

"But what could have done that?" Raven asked.

"I don't know," Rich said. "But I have this feeling in my gut that it had something to do with…"

"Tom," Raven said finishing his sentence. "Me too. He was just acting a bit weird after Jake disappeared. As if he knew something about Jake's disappearance that he didn't want anyone to find out."

"As if he felt guilty about something," Rich said thoughtfully. "As if he knew something that was linked to Jake going away that he was afraid to tell us about."

"But what could it be?" Raven asked rhetorically. She sighed. Rich leaned down and the two kissed. They sat in silence both thinking about their son. And although they didn't say anything both secretly knew in the depths of their hearts Jake was on his way to save them.

The next day on the ship 

Jake moaned loudly as he slowly regained consciousness. His chest was on fire. He opened his eyes and saw that his shirt was off and his entire chest was bandaged up. He could barely move. He couldn't remember being in this much pain ever before in all his adventures. And that was saying a lot. He hear the door open. He turned his head to find Amber standing with a tray full of food. She put the tray down on his desk and walked up to him quickly. She sat down in a chair beside his hammock and took his hand.

"Hey," she said. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit," he muttered trying to sit up, but she pushed him back down gently.

"You need to rest," she said firmly. He smiled and chuckled.

"Wasn't it less than three days ago I was saying the same to you?" he asked with a smile. They both chuckled.

"Thanks for saving all of us," she said.

"Thanks for saving me," he said. "How is everyone?"

"Fine," Amber said. "Though they're all feeling extremely guilty." Jake nodded slightly. There was a pause in which they just sat staring at each other.

"Hey Amber," Jake said suddenly. She looked at him. "Before you were going to tell me something about Tom. What was it?"

"Oh right err…" she hesitated and he gently squeezed her hand. "Well the thing is…" At this point the door swung open and Angela strode in. Jake and Amber quickly let go of each other's hand and Angela walked towards the bed and pushed Amber off the chair and on to the floor. Amber stood up hand on back.

"Déjà vu," Amber muttered to herself. Jake gave her another apologetic look. Angela took a hold of Jake's hand.

"Ohh Jakey," Angela said in that annoying voice that made Jake want to rip off his ears. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Jake replied pulling his hand away and shooting her a 'leave me alone 'look. "You can go now." Angela began to say something but Jake interrupted her. "Angela just leave Amber and I alone."

"Alright Jakey," she said as she walked towards the door. "Get well soon Jakey. I can't bear the thought of you lying here all beaten up." Jake simply ignored her comment and lay back in his hammock. Angela exited the room and Amber sat back down beside the hammock.

"She really can't take a hint can she?" Amber said after a while. Jake chuckled.

"Yeah," Jake said. "She really can't. She's soo annoying."

"Then why can't I beat her up?" Amber asked cracking her knuckles.

"Because Amber I'm her captain," Jake replied. "I can't just let you beat her up. No matter how much I want you to." Amber shook her head and sighed.

"You're way too kind and caring to be a pirate," she stated.

"HEY!" he said glaring at her. She laughed slightly.

"I'm just kidding, Mr. Sensitive," she said still chuckling slightly.

"So you were saying?" he asked.

"Oh right," Amber said. "You see the thing was…" At this point April walked in.

"Morning Jake," April said. "Hope I'm not interrupting?"

"Not at all," Amber said quickly. April nodded.

"So April where exactly are we?" Jake asked.

"We're harbored in the Nightmare Forest," April replied. "We're not too deep into the forest. I reckoned that if a place is called Nightmare it's safer to sail with your captain." Jake nodded.

"So what exactly is dangerous about this place?" Amber asked.

"Not sure," Jake said. "All I know is that there have been mysterious disappearances around here." The others nodded. "Well we should explore the forest a little. Maybe find some supplies in the woods."

"Yeah," April said. "But only after you're feeling better."

"Only after I'm feeling better," he confirmed. The two girls nodded. Jake could tell both were going to make sure he kept his word. April exited the room to go check on the supplies and other such things. Amber placed the tray of food on Jake's lap. He started to slowly eat it.

"Hey Jake who's that guy with jet black hair and black eyes?" Amber asked suddenly.

"Mark?" Jake said. "He fits that description. Why?"

"Well it's just that April was screaming orders at him at the top of her lungs and he didn't seem to hear a bloody thing," Amber said. "Is he deaf?"

"As a doornail," Jake said once again wondering how he'd got stuck with Mark. "But don't mention it to him. He insists that he's simply a little hard of hearing. And whenever you're talking about him he will suddenly be able to hear everything."

"I think you know my next question," Amber said.

"Eliza found Mark on this island we were on," Jake said. "Took pity on him. You know deaf guy wandering around all alone. She managed to convince me to let him stay. Still don't know how. A conversational wizard that girl is." They both chuckled a bit. "Oh Amber what were you saying?"

"Oh right well the thing is…" Amber began, but before she could finish the door once more swung open. A teenage boy with sandy brown hair and nervous green eyes walked in.

"Captain," the boy wailed. "I'm sooo sorry you got hurt. I knew this was a bad idea. We should have never tried to go on this trip. It's far toooo dangerous to try to go to the Dark Isle……"

"Egor, shut up!" Jake said firmly. The boy instantly shut his mouth. "Egor it's too late to turn back now. Now instead of spending every waking moment hiding in your cabin how bout you go and help?" The boy nodded stupidly and ran out of the room. There was a pause.

"Who was that?" Amber asked. "I seen and been introduced to everyone else, but not him."

"That's Egor," Jake said with a sigh. "Our resident wimp. He's spent the entire trip hiding in his cabin. And don't ask how we met him because I don't know. One fine morning we were harbored on an island and he just appeared and never left." Amber nodded. "So Amber come on the thing is?"

"Oh yeah. The thing is…" she began, but for what felt like the thousandth time the door swung open and two people stepped inside. Amber let out a slightly frustrated sigh. She turned to find a teenage girl and boy. They both had dark brown hair and looked exactly the same except one was a girl and the other a boy. Also the girl had green eyes and the boy had blue eyes. She already knew these were the infamous twin cooks.

"Morning captain," They said at the same time.

"Just came by to get the tray," Troy said picking up the now empty tray.

"And to tell you April has ordered you to get some more sleep," Jennifer added.

"Thanks," Jake said. "I will." The two nodded. Then Troy produced a cupcake.

"Here you go captain," Troy said handing it to Jake. "I made it." With that the two left and Jake through the cupcake into his trashcan. Amber chuckled slightly.

"Well I better let you get some rest," she said standing up. Jake nodded.

"They remind me of Dad and Aunt Eli," he said suddenly. Amber looked a little confused. "Jennifer and Troy. Whenever I see them together it reminds me of Dad and Aunt Eli." His voice wasn't the strong powerful one it usually was, but a little lonely and sad.

"You feel homesick and miss them sometimes. Don't you?" Amber asked.

"Maybe a little…" Jake muttered. "Sometimes…especially Mom." Amber gave him a sympathetic smile. She put out her hand and gently ruffled his hair.

"Hey look on the bright side," Amber said. "You get to see them in a few days." She smiled at him and he smiled back. Then she surprised them both by leaning forward and kissing his cheek. Then she turned around and left the cabin. She stood outside the door and both thought about the slight jolt that had taken place when she kissed him.

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Well do you think? 

Read&Review

Oh and my summer break is on for six more weeks so you'll be hearing plenty from me.

Until next time

Dragon. Out.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys

The dragon is back again. Sorry it's been a while. I've been really busy.

Anyways here's chapter 5.

When something is in _Italics_ it means that it's someone's thought and when it's in (brackets) it means they're talking in Xarthian.

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans or Star Wars or anything to that effect.

Well I hope you guys like this chapter. Thanks to all my reviewers.

Read&Review

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**Three days after the squid incident**

Jake stood looking out of the window in his cabin. Amber entered the cabin.

"Good morning," she said with a smile.

"Morning," he replied.

"Feeling better?" she asked.

"Much," he replied. "In fact I think we can go deeper into the forest and explore it a little today. April's potions really are miracle working." They both chuckled slightly. "Come on. I think it's time the world saw my face again." With that the two headed up to the deck.

Jake and Amber stepped on to the deck to be greeted by the crew all working on the morning chores. April was in the middle of an argument with Angela who seemed to be refusing to help, due to the fact she didn't want to break a nail. Jake deciding he'd had enough of Angela while he was injured to last a lifetime led Amber towards the bridge where Demetri stood examining a map. He looked up and smiled as they approached.

"Good morning Captain," Demetri said. "Good to see you up and about."

"Morning Demetri," Jake replied. "Ready to go on a bit of an exploration?"

"You want to explore Nightmare Forest??!!" Demetri asked with a hint of fear in his voice.

"Why not?" Jake replied. "I mean it's just a garden that's got out of control." Demetri looked slightly doubtful, but the look on Jake's face was enough to tell him there was no point arguing. Besides they did need supplies.

**An hour or so later**

"Right," Jake said addressing the entire crew. "April, Amber and I will explore this forest. Demetri, Kai, Eliza and Jennifer try and find food, fresh water, wood and what not. The rest of you stay on the ship. No one is to wander off on their own. Understand?"

"Understood" answered several voices. Jake nodded and they all set off.

Jake, with Striker perched on his shoulder, Amber and April started to head inland while Demetri and the others followed the water looking for any little streams

An half hour later 

Jake, Striker, Amber and April had gone pretty deep into the forest and found nothing.

"Guess there's no one who lives here," April commented.

"Yeah," Jake said.

"Hey guys look at this," Amber said suddenly. The two looked over at her. She was kneeling on the ground and examining something. They walked over to her.

"What's up?" Jake said.

"Footprints," Amber said pointing at a clear print in the ground. The others knelt down and examined the ground she had pointed at.

"It's a person's footprint," April commented. Jake suddenly stood up and walked a little bit towards the direction he had been facing. Striker had landed there and was indicating to something on the ground. He knelt down and started to examine the ground.

"This may be bad," he muttered. The two walked over to him and looked at the spot he was staring at.

"You can say that again," Amber muttered. There clearly visible on the ground was a GIANT paw print that no person could have made.

"That's a dragon's print," April said quietly. They all remained silent. The realization that there maybe a dragon here was enough to make the greatest of warriors run for their lives.

"We have to get out of here now," Jake said standing up. "If there's one thing I've learnt from my adventures it's never to mess with a dragon."

"Wait," Amber said. He looked at her. "There are people here as well. If there's a dragon they're in danger. We should help them." She looked at them both. Jake was quiet for a while before nodding in agreement.

"You're right," he agreed.

"Yeah, we can't just abandon them," April added. They all nodded and started to head in the direction of the footsteps. They kept walking until they reached a cliff. The cliff went down to a spot that had a cave.

"Now, that could be nothing," Jake said. "Or it could be a hiding place for the occupants of this place."

"Or it could be the dragon's lair," April pointed out.

"It is risky. But I think we might as well check it out," Jake said.

The other two agreed and they flew down the cliff and entered the cave. They moved quietly though the cave until they came to a spot where it broke into three separate paths. They decided to split up and they each went down a path. Jake followed his path until he reached a giant clearing in the cave. And in the center was a GIGANTIC dragon who was just waking up from its afternoon nap. The dragon stretched, roared and looked around. Its eyes came to rest on Jake. Jake got into a battle stance and Striker also prepared to help as best he could.

"Don't be afraid little one," the dragon said in a calm voice. Jake stared up at it with his mouth hung open.

"You…you can talk…" he stuttered stupidly.

"That I can little one," the dragon replied. "That I can."

"I'm not little," Jake muttered.

"Most things are little compared to me," the dragon said. The dragon looked at Striker and made a soft growling noise. Striker flew to the dragon who raised its paw in the air. Striker perched on one of the gigantic fingers and the dragon gently stoked him with its other hand. After a while Striker flew back down to its Master and perched on Jake's shoulder.

"So what brings young Master Jake here?" the dragon asked.

"How do you know my name?" he asked. The dragon seemed to smile.

"I have certain skills that allow me to know such things," the dragon replied. "And I have skills that allow me to give adventurers help on their journey."

"Are you going to help me?" he asked. The dragon nodded.

"Firstly my name is Galaxy," she said. "And yes I'm going to help you. One of my skills is seeing into the future. I can't see exactly what will happen rather I can sense what will happen. So let's see what you have to look forward to."

With that the dragon raised her paw and placed it in front of Jake. Striker flew off his shoulder and landed on rock. Out of nowhere a magical gust of wind appeared and surrounded Jake and Galaxy, forming a whirlwind around them.

"Just stay calm and open your mind." Galaxy said calmly. She had her eyes closed and was focusing only on his mind.

Jake tried to do as she told him. He felt a bit nervous being trapped in a whirlwind with a giant dragon, but for some odd reason he felt he could trust her. Then suddenly she started to talk. She spoke as if she was in some sort of a trance.

"I sense lives in danger," she said. She whispered it, but he could hear her. "I sense love being revealed Love that has been kept hidden for a long time finally being revealed. I sense a loved one in danger. Mortal danger. I sense darkness. Great darkness. Unbearable darkness." Her voice was quivering slightly. The wind around them turned into a gale. Suddenly the mighty dragon was sent hurtling backwards into a wall. The wind disappeared and Jake too fell backwards.

"What happened?" he said sitting up and rubbing his head.

"Forgive me," Galaxy said getting up again. "It seems the darkness was a little too much for me to handle. Well it seems you have quite a…interesting, I think I'll call it, journey ahead of you. But I urge you to keep this meeting a secret. I doubt many people want to run head first into such a great force of darkness that just sensing it fully can send me hurtling into a wall." Jake nodded.

"Thank-you," he said. She smiled.

"No problem," she replied. She then pointed to a small chain lying on a nearby rock. It had a dragon on it. "Take that." Galaxy said. "Any time you want to have a chat just hold it up and say 'Lead me to Galaxy' and it'll teleport you to wherever I am." she told him. Jake walked over to the chain and picked it up. He put it around his neck and tucked it under his shirt.

"Thanks again," Jake said smiling up at the dragon.

"You better go before your friends get worried," Galaxy said smiling back at him. She was already feeling rather fond of him. Jake nodded.

"Bye" he said and headed back the way he had come. Galaxy watched him leave.

"The spitting image of his father," she said to herself. "But he's inherited his mother's mysterious and loner like nature. Someday I really must tell him how I met those two." With that she yawned and settled back down to finish her nap.

Jake raced through the cave and arrived at the fork at the same time that the other two did.

"Hey," he said. "Find anything interesting?" he asked wondering if there were anymore talking dragons in this cave.

"Nope," Amber said. "Mine lead to a dead end. What about yours?"

"Mine was a dead end as well," April replied. "Jake?"

"Same here," he replied, lying through his teeth with practiced ease. "Come on. Let's head back to the ship." The other two nodded and they quickly made their way back to the ship.

**Once they had reached the ship**

Jake, Amber and April climbed on to the ship. Demetri and the others seemed to have already returned. Jake looked around at them and finally his eyes came to rest on five people who weren't on his ship that morning.

"So anyone mind telling me who the five new members of my crew are?" he asked.

"We are inhabitants of this island," said one of the people who was obviously the leader of the group. "And you must be the mighty captain we've heard so much about. An honour to meet you," he stated bowing to them. "My name is Marcus. My troop and I found your crew members wandering around and after hearing they were adventurers in need of food and other such supplies we welcomed them to our palace. However they refused to go without their fellows and their captain. So I make you a formal invitation sir. Please do join us at our palace. It is easy to tell you are injured and in need of proper healing. Not something your apprentice made you…" April scoffed slightly at this. "…so do come with us." Jake remained silent Galaxy's warning burning in his mind.

_I sense lives in danger. Is this lot going to help us or lead us head first into a trap?_ Jake remained thinking a little longer. He examined them carefully. They didn't seem to have evil faces or anything. _Well one way or the other if they have a civilization here they could kill us if it was a trap whenever they wanted even if we didn't follow them. So might as well try and get some food and regain our strength before that happens if it does happen._ "Alright, we'll come with you." Marcus smiled.

"Good," he said. "Now gather whatever you want and let's go."

**Half of an hour later**

Jake, Amber and the rest of the crew were following Marcus and his troop through the forest. April was walking at the back of the line with a scowl that could easily challenge one of Raven's best ones. During the last half hour Marcus had shown that he didn't really consider an apprentice much good to the universe. He had first asked her whether she'd be able to carry her pack. Next he'd told her it was quite a distance and asked whether she'd be able to manage. Finally he had stated that 'I always believed that if you need someone else to teach you everything you're incapable of managing anything on your own.' At this little comment Jake and Amber had had to physically restrain April from tearing Marcus to pieces on the spot. Jake was at the front speaking with Marcus.

"So are you all Xarthians?" Jake asked.

"Actually no," Marcus replied. "We're not Xarthian. We're some other race. No one's really sure where we came from. But we're definitely not Xarthian. We don't even speak Xarthian." Jake nodded. He saw April at the back with a scowl unlike any he'd ever seen on her face.

"You know if you keep your face like that all the time it'll eventually freeze that way," Jake commented joining her at the back of the line.

"I don't give a damn," she replied fiercely. Jake sighed and rolled his eyes. "Incapable," she said spitting out the word as if using it disgusted her. "Incapable my ass."

"So he's a bit rude," Jake said.

"He's only rude to me," April muttered. "Because he finds apprentices incapable of doing anything."

"So he has a thing against apprentices," Jake said. "The point is it's not true and we're just going to have to hang around him for a little while. Okay?" April nodded, but kept the scowl on his face.

"Well one more smart comment and I'll beat him to death with a sledgehammer and feed his remains to mad dogs. I'm not going to be insulted by a good for nothing…" And here she started swearing in a language only she and Jake knew. It was a language known only by her tribe and Jake only knew it because she had taught it to him. Jake lagged a little behind. If there was one thing five years with April as his apprentice had taught him it was to leave her alone when she was ranting. Amber joined him at the back after a while. She noticed he seemed to be lost in thought.

(What's up?) she asked in Xarthian. He was startled out of his thoughts. He smiled slightly. (What?) she asked seeing him smile again.

(It's just that it's been a while since I've spoken in Xarthian,) he replied. (April's the only one who knows how to speak it and we don't really talk in it so it's been a while.)

(That explains why your accent is off,) she teased.

(Hey!!) he exclaimed. (True Xarthians NEVER lose their accents.) Amber laughed slightly.

(I'm just teasing,) she said still chuckling slightly. (So what's wrong?)

(I just get this weird feeling in my gut that we're being led into a trap,) Jake replied.

(Well at least someone thinks so too,) Amber said. Jake glanced at her. (I've been feeling the same way. Well there's nothing left to do except be on our guard.) Jake nodded in agreement. Striker who was perched on Jake's hand made a soft cry.

"What's wrong buddy??" Jake muttered gently stroking the falcon who appeared extremely restless. "Why are you sooo restless?" he sighed. It worried him when Striker was restless because the bird had a way of sensing danger. Well there wasn't much they could do about it.

**At the palace **

"So milord we brought them here," Marcus said concluding his story. They were currently in the throne room and Marcus was explaining their presence to the king of this civilization. The king rose to his feet.

"Well any adventurer is more than welcome here" the king said cheerfully. The crew all smiled and voiced their thanks.

**Later that night**

Jake, Amber and the crew had all been treated to a huge banquet and had injuries attended to. They had all been shown to huge rooms and most of the crew was already fast asleep. Jake, Amber and April all remained awake each thinking about fairly similar things.

**April**

April was lying on her bed staring up at the ceiling. She couldn't get to sleep. Her mind was too restless. There was something about this place and about that Marcus guy. There was something about him that screamed evil. And it wasn't just the fact he had continued to insult her. There was genuinely something that bothered her. Finally she stood up and put on her weapon belt. She quietly snuck out of her room and started to make her way through the palace.

She crept quietly keeping to the shadows and hiding from the guards. She managed to make her way to the entrance to the dungeons. She entered the dungeons. There was a long hall with doors on either side. She sniffed the air. It smelt of blood. She glanced around. She noticed a red pool on the ground. She knelt down and placed a finger in it. She brought it up to her nose and sniffed it.

"Blood," she whispered to herself. "Fresh blood."

Suddenly she heard the noise of a door shutting ahead of her followed by footsteps. She stood up and tried the nearest door. Fortunately it was open and she hurried inside. She stood in absolute silence with her ear pressed against the door. She heard the footsteps grow closer. She tensed when the footsteps passed the door. She heard them dying away and finally a door shutting.

She sighed and turned around and was greeted by a completely empty room. The only thing was a table with a sword lying on it. She approached it. She examined it as closely as she could without picking it up. There was something awfully familiar about it. Then it suddenly hit her like a tonne of bricks.

"This is the sword that was stolen that day that…" she began, but before she could finish she heard the door open. She spun around to be greeted by a kick straight to the face. She was thrown backwards into the wall.

"Your parents and your entire tribe were killed," finished the cold voice of Marcus.

"You," April said and suddenly her mind cleared and she realized how similar Marcus looked to the leader of the people who had attacked. "You're the one who…"

"Attacked your island and killed your parents and stole that sword?" Marcus asked rhetorically. "Yeah I think I fit that description."

"You killed them?" April said her hand on the hilt of her saber. She had longed for who knows how long to come face to face with this monster and get back at him for what he had done.

"That's right," Marcus said. "From the second I laid eyes on you I realized you were the leaders of that pathetic tribe's offspring. I realized that you might recognize me so I used a flaw of your tribes against you. I made you sooo angry…"

"That my anger overclouded my mind and better judgment," April said finishing his sentence. Marcus nodded a cruel smile on his face.

"I destroyed all, but one member of that tribe and today I intend to finish the job!!" Marcus stated and with a roar raced towards April.

**Jake**

_What did Galaxy mean by love revealed? _Jake thought to himself as he lay on his bed. _Did she mean Amber and me?? No it couldn't be She must mean someone else. I mean I can't tell Amber my feelings. I just can't. I mean the only thing that'll come of it will be our friendship getting ruined and me getting even more hurt. Well that's settled._

_Now that darkness she was talking about. That's obviously Draconis and my grandfather. But according to Galaxy we've seriously underestimated them. Looks like we'll really need that weapon. As for that danger that she sensed. Well I'll just have to keep my eyes open. _He sighed.

_But what if she did mean Amber and me? What if I do reveal my feelings? She also did say love in danger. Maybe I reveal them cause she's in danger or something. Well I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens. Not much good hiding from fate._

Suddenly he heard noises outside and a shout. Striker flew off his spot at the head of the bed and landed on his shoulder. The bird hadn't even attempted to sleep and this further worried Jake. There was a long pause and then someone started pounding on his door. He leapt out of bed, grabbed his weapon belt, raced to the door and opened it.

**Amber**

Amber sat in a meditation position thinking over everything that had happened that day. If there was one thing Master Obi-Wan had taught her it was never to take chances.

_They seem nice enough, but it's just weird._ She pondered._ I mean some unheard civilization in a place that's known for having mysterious disappearances. And what about that dragon's footprint?? There's still no explanation for it. I don't get it. It's just weird…_ Her train of thought was interrupted when she heard someone doing something outside her door. She spun around just in time to see five armed soldiers walk into her room all with extremely sadistic looks on their faces.

"Ready to spend the rest of your life in a living hell kid?" one of the soldiers asked rhetorically.

"Well this actually answers a lot of questions," Amber said calmly. She was extremely thankful for staying in her Jedi clothes and keeping on her weapon belt. She then let out a loud shout so as to warn Jake who was in the next room and raced into battle against the soldiers.

**Meanwhile with Rich and Raven**

Rich paced back and forth across the length of the cell they were in. He had been doing this as long as any of them could remember.

"Rich you're going to run a hole through the ground," Raven said calmly. She was seated on the ground with her arms crossed across her chest. She looked perfectly calm, but Rich could tell even she was beginning to get pretty fed up with just sitting around doing nothing.

"We can't just sit here and do nothing," Rich said.

"I have to side with Raven on this one. Pacing up and down is pretty pointless," Cyborg said. Rich sighed and sat down beside Raven.

"There has to be a way out of here," Rich muttered rubbing his temple.

"There will be an opportunity," Eli said. "We just have to wait for it and hope to recognize it when it comes."

"I agree" Tony said.

"I guess you're all right," Rich said. "Patience brings the fire," he said using his favourite saying. "I just hope we can get out of here before Draconis and Trigon attack." There was a murmur of agreement from everyone.

"There is one way out," A guard said appearing out of nowhere. They all looked at him. "The master said that despite everything he is willing to let you join him." They all stared at him.

"**NO!!!!**" shouted several loud voices. The guard simply nodded and left the dungeons.

"The nerve of that guy," Rich said angrily.

"Maybe we can use this to our advantage," Raven said quietly. Rich nodded slightly. He glanced around the room and his eyes came to rest on Opal who was currently glaring at a smirking Ethan who was about to beat her at battleship. He smiled.

"Maybe we can," he said as he continued to stare at his daughter a plan quickly formulating in his head. "But even if we get out there's still the problem of beating Draconis and Trigon." He frowned slightly. He noticed Raven also staring at Opal lost in thought. "Rae it's really risky and dangerous."

"But it's our only chance," Raven pointed out.

"What about Amber and Jake?" Rich said. "According to your vision they're on their way."

"But we have to keep in mind that by the looks of my vision they're both badly injured. Also Draconis took down our most powerful troops," Raven said.

"And the only troops that will follow them here," Rich added. "But nevertheless Amber and Jake both have a naturally strong will and convincing nature. There is still a tiny chance." Raven nodded her head in agreement.

"That's true," Raven said. "But at the same time we shouldn't spend the next hundred years waiting for them. But this still has to be thought through."

"Right," Rich said. "Tell you what. If by the time we figure the whole thing out as well as get the opportunity to put it into action they haven't shown any sign of coming to our aid we'll put the plan into action."

"Right" Raven said before sitting back against the wall and shutting her eyes. "I love you."

"I love you too," Rich said as he seated himself beside her and shut his eyes as well. Raven placed her head on his shoulder. Rich kissed her forehead and the two sat in silence slowly formulating their plan.

* * *

I know I know. 

I'm pure evil to put three cliffhangers in one chapter, but I couldn't resist. I'll post the next chapter in a few days.

I hope you liked this one. The next one's my personal favourite.

Read & Review.

Until we meet again.

Dragon. Out.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey guys

Here's Chapter 6. I know I said it wouldn't be long, but school started up again and well...you know. Anyways hope you like it. This one's my favourite and was the most fun to write. It's darkest one so far.

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**With Amber **

Amber pulled out her light saber and leapt into battle against the five guards. The one that had spoken to her pulled out his own light saber and swung it at her obviously expecting to get her. But Amber easily blocked the attack. She then used her saber to push his to the side. She raised her saber bringing it through his handle. Then as he stared stupidly at his broken handle she stabbed him with the saber and he fell to the floor dead. The remaining four all stared at her. They had obviously not expected her to be so good.

"I seriously hope, for your sake, that he wasn't the leader in the pack," Amber commented as if she was asking them about the weather. There was a pause then all four remaining soldiers attacked her at once.

Amber remained unfazed. She easily blocked every attack they threw at her. After a while she leapt into the air. She caught hold of the chandelier and swung into it. She used her saber to chop the wires and it fell to the floor with a crash. It landed, with Amber still in it, on top of one of the remaining soldiers. Amber used her saber to slash his neck, just to be sure of his death. Then she turned off her saber. Now the three remaining guards had a problem. The chandelier had been the only source of light in the room.

"The lights" one muttered, but before the sentence could be finished they saw Amber's saber being activated near the light switch and heard a slash. "She slashed the light switch."

"You really shouldn't leave your sabers on in a dark room," came Amber's voice. She somehow managed to make it echo around the room.

Then suddenly one of the guards let out a scream as Amber grabbed her from behind and soon the sound of a neck snapping could be heard. The two remaining guards stood with their backs together waiting for any sign of Amber. Then suddenly out of nowhere Amber appeared in front of one of them and kicked him. He stumbled back and pushed the remaining guard into the wall as well.

"Get off and get her!!" she yelled. Pushing him back and unfortunately right into Amber's sword which she had silently pulled out. The one remaining guard kept her saber out and pressed her back against the wall. Then suddenly she heard a noise to her left. She spun around to face the noise and immediately from behind her Amber attacked and stabbed her through the heart.

Amber took a few deep breathes before racing out of the room. She raced to Jake's room door and started pounding on it. Jake flung his door open.

"Hey Amber, what's wroo…" he began but before he could finish his sentence she had grabbed him and pulled him into her room. She pulled out a torch, turned it on and showed him the dead bodies of the guards.

"They attacked me," she said to his questioning glance.

"Maybe it's some sort of weird welcoming ritual??" Jake offered. Amber gave him a 'try to be serious' look.

"There must be more of them trying to get us," Amber said. Jake nodded.

"Quick get into their armors and hide the bodies," Jake said. He and Amber quickly put on armors and hid the dead bodies. Jake placed an invisibility spell on Striker who Jake swore was wearing a 'I tried to tell you, but you didn't listen' look. They then quietly slipped out of the room Striker clinging to Jake's shoulder tightly.

Sure enough there were guards running around all over the place. Fortunately no one recognized them and they were able to move through the palace without any commotion.

"We should try and find the dungeons," Amber whispered. Jake nodded. The two moved through the palace and eventually after beating up a weak looking guard got him to tell them how to get to there reached the dungeons.

"Alright that idiot said they're in the rooms at the end of the passage," Jake said. Before they could even start walking towards the end of the corridor they heard someone coming. Jake grabbed Amber's hand and pulled her into the nearest room. He shut the door and pressed his ear to it.

"Come on," said someone. "That imbecile said he told them to check the rooms at the end of the corridor. And he claims they're dressed in our armors." He heard them running past the room they were in. He remained listening, knowing they would eventually go back. He suddenly felt Amber clutch his arm in a bone crushing grip, but he ignored it.

"Jake…" she began in a low voice, but he placed a finger to his lips to indicate to be quiet. She stayed quiet, but continued to clutch his arm. After a few minutes he heard the soldiers leaving the dungeons

"Guess they couldn't find their way here despite the instructions," he heard one say. Soon he heard the door slam. He turned to face Amber.

"What were you going to say?" he asked her. Amber pointed ahead of her. He turned around and instantly felt his stomach start to do somersaults.

There in front of him chained to the wall was the body of a man. Or at least what remained of him. His entire body was covered in blood. He had cuts and gashes and what not all over his body. His flesh had started to rot. His ribs had been pulled out of his body and were sticking out of him. There were burnt patches on his body. His chest looked like it had been slashed and eaten by some animal. Jake stood and stared at the body for what felt like forever. He couldn't tear his eyes away. It was Amber's voice that finally woke him up.

"Well I'm psychologically scared for life," Amber commented. Jake was grateful that at least she was calm because he was freaking out. "Come on we better get out of here." The two took off the armours and slipped out of the room. They were about to head to the end of the corridor when they heard voices coming from behind a door. Amber and Jake opened the door of the room the noises were coming from to find April and Marcus in the middle of a fight.

"You're weak," Marcus commented. "Just like that tribe of yours. Both your parents couldn't take me down. How do you intend to? Hmm?" April roared and raced at him saber ready. Amber made a move to go inside, but Jake quickly put a hand on her shoulder and held her back. She gave him a questioning look.

"This is April's fight," he said calmly. "She has to do this. If she absolutely needs us we'll step in." Amber looked slightly worried. April was sending attack after attack at Marcus, but he was easily blocking them. Jake smiled at her slightly. "Don't worry. Our April can take care of herself." Amber nodded and turned to watch the battle.

"Come on show me what you got," Marcus taunted. "Or are you as incapable as the rest of them."

At this April fiercely slashed at Marcus who barely managed to dodge the attack. Marcus quickly recovered and slashed at her with his saber. April bent backwards until her hands touched the ground, causing the attack to miss, then used her hands to somersault off the ground and landed a little way off. She then moved forward with a kick aimed at his chest and kicked him across the room. Marcus managed to recover and raced towards her and attacked with his saber. April managed to block the attacks until finally Marcus slashed right through her saber.

Luckily April managed to pull out her sword and slash his saber in half before he could use it to gain the advantage. She then slashed at his chest. Marcus was hit, but leapt out of the area and pulled out his own sword. He raced at her. The two fought in the center of the room sending attack after attack.

"They were pathetic excuses for warriors," Marcus said. "Absolutely pathetic."

April roared again and tried to attack, but once again Marcus started to easily block the attacks. She fiercely punched and kicked, but he stopped each attack and countered. Grabbing her hands and twisting them, grabbing her legs and flinging her around and stopping her sword attacks moving her sword to the side and attacking her.

"Calm down April," Amber heard Jake muttering. "He's getting you too mad to focus."

April seemed to have calmed down a bit and summoned a ball of energy which she sent flying at Marcus. Marcus was taken by surprise and the energy ball hit him. April leapt into the air and kicked him backwards into the wall. She then pushed off him to her feet again. Marcus moved forward and aimed a kick at her face, but she caught his leg and sent him flying across the room. He stood up slowly on shaky legs. Just like that April had the advantage. Soon she was blocking and countering every attack in the same way he had been a few minutes ago. Now April twisted his hand every time he threw a punch, sent him flying with every kick and hit him every time he tried to use a sword attack. Finally Marcus managed to block one of April's sword attacks. They both put pressure on their swords. Slowly April started to overpower him, but at that moment Marcus pulled a dagger out of nowhere and slashed at her eye. April cried out and Marcus kicked her in the stomach sending her stumbling backwards. April looked over at him. She had moved back enough and shut her eyelid in time for her eye to be spared, but there was a cut across it and blood was flowing over her face blinding that eye. But she still stood up and raced into battle against Marcus. She was doing rather well seeing as how she had to fight with pretty much one eye. Finally Marcus summoned a ball of energy in the hand that was near her hurt eye and couldn't really be seen and fired at her. April was flung across the room and into the wall. Marcus approached her and held his sword above her.

"They begged you know," he said to her. "Begged like the filthy dogs they were." April froze at this. She had looked ready to get up, but she absolutely froze at this comment. Amber was about to attack when she noticed Jake smirking.

"He's dead," Jake said. Amber turned back to the battle feeling slightly confused.

Marcus brought his sword down towards April and when it was two inches from her nose her hand came up and caught it. Her grip tightened and electricity surged through the sword. Marcus cried out and let go of it. April spun the sword in the air and caught it the right way. She stood up.

"Don't you dare speak about my parents like that," she said in a deadly voice.

She slashed at Marcus' face and before he could react she had slashed across his eye. He cried out. She slashed deeply at his chest and kicked it. She punched him straight in the nose. April continued to send attack after attack at him each making contact before he could register her movement. Finally she summoned a huge ball of energy and sent it flying at him. Marcus was flung into the wall. She let his sword drop and picked up the sword he had stolen from her island. He walked up to him. He had fallen to the ground. She picked him up by the neck.

"Incapable huh?" she said before completely slashing his head off his shoulders. Amber and Jake stared at the head rolling around the floor and the bloody remains of Marcus. Slowly Jake opened the door and stepped inside Amber following him. April looked up at them.

"Well that was impressive," Jake commented. "And to be perfectly honest a little scary." April laughed slightly at this.

Striker still invisible landed on her shoulder and gently pecked the top of her head. April smiled and after searching a bit found him and gently stroked him.

"Job well done April," Amber added.

April simply nodded. The energy that had come with her anger was starting to leave her and was being replaced with the pain of her injuries. Jake walked towards her and gently moved her hair out of the way so that he could examine the cut near her eye. It was pretty bad.

"I think I can heal it to some degree," Jake said. "But my powers aren't yet strong enough to completely heal it. I should be able to stop the bleeding, but that's it. It'll be a little hard to see out of that eye for a while. A lot of blood entered it. Though you should thank the stars April. You're lucky to still have that eye." With that he placed his hand in front of her eye and focused. He chanted quietly and slowly the bleeding stopped, but there was still quite a noticeable scar.

"Thanks," April said.

"No problem," Jake replied pulling her into a brotherly hug and gently kissing the top of her head. He had a look of pure pride on his face.

"Here," April said offering Jake the sword.

"I can't take it," he said. "It should be yours. Besides I prefer my own sword. The blade is unbreakable, it allows magical energy forces to pass through it, it comes to me when I call it and it's considered one of the best ever made. Plus it fits perfectly in my hand. Besides you earned it." April looked like she was going to argue, but he gave her a look that read 'don't bother arguing you'll never win'. She glanced at Amber.

"Mine does pretty much the same stuff as his and is considered the best after his," Amber said before she could even question her. "And Jake's right. You earned it."

"Thanks," April said. She picked up her old sword and sheathed it. She then picked up the sheath for the other sword, sheathed the sword and attached it to her belt.

"Well we better try and find the others," Jake said. "They're probably in one of the rooms in this dungeon." The two girls nodded and all three slipped quietly out of the room.

The three started heading through the dungeon. They went to the end of the hall and entered the last door. Inside just as they had expected was one of the members of the crew. It was Demetri. He was chained up against the wall. He looked up at them and a relieved look crossed his face. He had quite a few bruises and cuts, but Amber and Jake both thought he was in pretty good shape compared to the tortured body they had see in the dungeon a few minutes ago. The three raced to his side and managed to free him from his chains. He fell to the ground and slowly stood back up.

"Thanks you guys," he muttered. "I knew you three would somehow escape them. But how'd you get all the way down here?" April was about to answer, but Jake cut him off.

"No time for explanations," he said. "We have to get out of here before…" Before he could finish his sentence the door was flung open and about fifty armed guards stood at the door. "Before exactly that happens."

The guards all charged at them, weapons drawn. April quickly handed Demetri her extra sword and the four also charged into battle. There was only four of them, but they were holding up pretty well. Striker was helping as well. He was swooping down and slashing at the guards eyes with his claws and beak. He was still invisible so they couldn't figure out what was attacking them. April was easily taking on the guards despite her bad eye. She was easily handling the new sword. It moved through her fingers expertly and she was fiercely stabbing at the guards. She easily dodged their attacks even though they were all around her. She moved around in a circle attacking each one. She was moving so fast that they barely had any time to recover before she was back with another attack. Demetri too was holding up pretty well seeing how he was pretty badly beaten up. He used all the complicated attack patterns the crew had developed over the years despite them probably putting him in a tonne of pain.

Amber and Jake were also putting up a tough fight. Especially since the soldiers were attacking Amber's back and Jake's chest. They had obviously been told about their injuries that were present there. The two fought together as they had been taught to when they were younger. Jake maybe grabbing someone's leg and holding it while Amber broke it or using attack patterns that had them both attacking at the same time. Finally one of the soldiers kicked Amber hard on her back before she could stop him and she stumbled forwards and banged hard into Jake's chest, which had just been slashed up, causing them both to fall over. Both thinking quickly interlocked their fingers and summoned a quick power combination spell. It was just a simple one, but it worked at getting rid of the soldiers that were around them.

Amber, who was still lying on top of Jake, turned back to him to find their faces barely a few inches apart. They stared at each other for an eternity trying to read each other's thoughts. Slowly without realizing it they began moving closer and closer until their lips touched in a loving kiss. The two kissed for a while before pulling away. They once again stared into each other's eyes. Nothing else seemed to exist except each other. There was no Tom, no Draconis and no fifty guards attacking them.

"The thing is you don't love him," Jake said finally. Amber nodded slowly.

"You left because you love me," Amber stated. Now it was Jake's turn to nod. They remained still for a while before their lips met again and they started a long make out session.

Meanwhile April and Demetri were trying to hold off the guards. Demetri seeing the two made a move to wake them up from their fantasy, but April stopped him.

"Let them have their moment," she said. "We can handle this lot."

And so the two continued to fight while the other two continued to make out. They attacked as fiercely as they could. Dodging attacks, countering attacks and sending attack after attack at the soldiers. They summoned magical energy balls and threw them at the soldiers. Finally just as Amber predicted she and Demetri managed to defeat the entire squadron that had attacked them.

When they finally had they turned around to find Jake and Amber still in their make out session. Demetri glanced at April and sighed. The two sat down o the ground and April produced a pack of cards and started to deal them out. The two were soon engrossed in a round of every sailor's favourite game, 'Go Fish'. After about five long rounds a vvveeerrryyy impatient Demetri tapped them on their heads and told them to save it for later. The couple stood up, their faces so red they could be mistaken for tomatoes. The four quickly exited the room and entered the room next door.

Sure enough another member of the crew was hung up there. They went from room to room locating and helping their crew members. Amber as one might easily guess felt no sorrow whatsoever about seeing Angela beaten up. They searched around, but found no one else who was alive. Finally they gathered in the hall of the dungeons. They had all armed themselves with weapons belonging to the soldiers Amber, Jake, April and Demetri had killed.

"Right," Jake said standing in front of the crew. "We need a plan to get out of here. We fooled them by dressing up like them before so let's do it again. Everyone pull on an armor. After that you guys get out. April take Striker." They all nodded. "Meanwhile I'm going to try and set up a bomb that'll blow this entire place sky high."

Everyone instantly pulled on one of the armors. They all pulled on helmets and slowly exited the dungeon Striker perched on April's shoulder now. Only Amber stayed behind with Jake. Jake looked like he was about to argue about her staying, but the look in her eyes was enough to make him realize arguing was pointless. He opened a small compartment on his belt. He pulled out a small bomb. Amber raised an eyebrow.

"It's small, but effective," Jake said. "It took me three years to develop it. This fellow is strong enough to blow up this entire place. Just need to set it off…" Before he could finish his sentence a ball of energy hit both of them in the back and sent them flying into the wall. The two stood up to find the king standing behind them.

"Well you seem to have managed to avoid my guards for quite a while," The king said. "I give you that much. But you won't beat me."

With that the king pulled out a sword and raced at them. Amber and Jake leapt out of the way. The king leapt off the wall and leapt towards Amber. Amber pulled out a bo-staff and used it to block the attack. The king started to attack, but Amber easily blocked every attack. She even managed to bonk him on the head. The king finally leapt backwards and into the awaiting sword blade of Jake's. The blade went through the king's shoulder. The king cried out in pain. But he reacted quickly. He reached behind and grabbed the blade and used it to swing Jake over his shoulder. Jake landed on the ground on his back. His sword had been pulled out of the king's shoulder.

Amber reacted before the king could and kicked him straight in the chest sending him stumbling backwards away from them. Jake quickly leapt to his feet. The king meanwhile somersaulted across the room and leapt off the wall heading straight at them. Amber and Jake spun out of the way. The king landed between them and punched them both in the face. He made a swipe at Amber's legs and she fell to the floor. The king brought his sword down towards her, but luckily she was still holding her bo-staff and blocked it easily. She blocked a few attacks. The king was clearly surprised that her reflexes were so good even when she was on the ground. Suddenly out of nowhere appeared Striker. The invisibility spell had worn off. Striker dove at the king and slashed at his eyes. The king cried out and suddenly Jake kicked him hard right in the face. The king stumbled to the side. Jake moved forward and grabbed the king's sword. He easily twisted the king's arm forcing him to drop it.

Amber meanwhile had sprung to her feet. She raced forward past the king and ran off the wall and used it to send a spinning kick at the king. The king swayed backwards. He was now between Amber and Jake. Amber and Jake's eyes met and they both smirked each understanding what the other had in mind. They both moved forward at the same time and kicked either side of his head. The king fell to the floor. Amber pulled out her sword.

"Quite a vain little wimp aren't you?" she said rhetorically before stabbing him. Striker perched on Jake's shoulder.

"Good job buddy!" Jake said stroking him. Striker next perched on Amber's hand. Amber gently stroked him as well.

"Yeah you saved us!!" she said.

"Come on," Jake said crouching beside the bomb. He pressed a few buttons and stood up. "We have two minutes to get out of here." Amber nodded and the two quickly raced out of the dungeon Striker still perched on Amber's shoulder. They exited the dungeon to find about a thousand soldiers all standing outside ready to attack.

"Shit" Amber muttered looking at Jake. There was no way they could take down all those soldiers and get out in time. Jake quickly turned to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Hold on to me as tight as you can and hold on to Striker," Jake whispered in her ear. She quickly wrapped her own arms around him and held Striker between them. "And whatever happens, do not let go." Amber nodded wondering what he was going to do.

Suddenly the two were engulfed in darkness. They were slowly lifted into the air. Amber saw all the soldiers staring at them. She looked at Jake. His eyes were glowing and he was chanting quietly to himself. The darkness around them slowly formed a bird. Amber now understood. She tightened her grip on Jake. He looked at her and she nodded. Instantly they took off. The two sped through the air, racing though the palace. Amber clutched to Jake tightly. He had obviously been practicing because before he was no where near being able to go as fast as his mother, but now it seemed he could easily rival her speed. Before Amber realized it they had burst through the doors of the palace and were out in the open.

Amber looked back and saw black energy surround the doors and slam them shut. Jake kept going through the forest. After a few seconds from behind them Amber heard a MASSIVE bang. She looked back and saw an explosion in the distance. Jake kept going until they were back where the ship was. The speed they were moving at had made them arrive earlier than the crew and they had to wait for them. Once they had reached they quickly took off and were soon sailing out of the place.

**Meanwhile with Rich and Raven **

"Hello oh great Emperor and Empress of Xarth," Draconis said as he appeared in front of Rich and Raven. The two leapt to their feet. "Now, now I just want to talk about my offer."

"We already told you we're not interested," Rich said icily.

"Are you sure?" Draconis asked. Rich and Raven nodded.

"Maybe they're not interested, but I am," a voice from the corner suddenly said. They all turned to face Opal.

"What did you say??" Raven asked narrowing her eyes slightly.

"I said," Opal said walking to the door of the cell. "That maybe you're not interested in his offer, but I am."

"You want to join me?" Draconis asked. Opal nodded. Rich and Raven stared at her.

"You want to join him?" Rich asked not believing his ears. Opal nodded

"But, Opal he's evil," Raven said. "He tried to kill us. He killed your grandfather. He's a horrible creature."

"Thanks for the review," she said. "I want to join you." Draconis raised his hand and placed it in front of her. After a while he smiled and moved back. He snapped his fingers and the cell door opened. Opal stepped out and the door shut before the other three could react.

"This way," Draconis said leading her out of the dungeon. "Your grandfather will be very proud and pleased."

Opal followed Draconis and his guards. She glanced back at her mother and father who both gave her reassuring looks. She nodded and mouthed 'love you' before walking out of the dungeons. Rich and Raven both seated themselves down on the floor again. They sat in silence for a while.

"Think we'll win an Oscar??" Rich asked jokingly. But his voice lacked the humor it usually had. Raven lay her head back against the wall and Rich soon did the same. The two sat there worrying about their daughter who was smack down in the middle of a very dangerous mission.

* * *

Well that's chapter six. I hope you liked it as much as I did.

I have Christmas hols in a week so this time I will update soon.

Until then.

Dragon. Out.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guys

The Dragon has returned.

Sorry it's been so long

Hope you guys like this chapter.

Read and Review**  
**

* * *

**A little while later on Jake's ship**

"I'm glad we're out of there," Jake said. Amber and he were standing on the bridge of the ship. They had exited the Nightmare Forest and were harbored just outside it. Jake had decided it was best to rest before proceeding into the Ocean of Darkness.

"That really was like a Nightmare," Amber commented.

"One bit was like a dream to me," Jake said out loud without realizing it. He blushed slightly. Amber chuckled.

"That bit was like a dream to me as well," Amber said as she took his hand and intertwined their fingers. He smiled at her. Amber leaned forward and kissed him lovingly. After a while they pulled away.

"This is wrong," Jake whispered. "Technically you're still with Tom."

"But I'm in love with you," Amber whispered. "And as soon as this thing is cleared up I'll break up with him." Jake nodded. He smiled at her.

"I love you too," he said and they kissed once more.

Meanwhile on the deck a particular female member of the crew was looking for 'Jakey'. Angela walked towards the bridge and froze as she saw what was happening on the bridge. Anger filled her as she saw Jake and Amber lip locked. She raced up on to the bridge and leapt at Amber intending to push her off the bridge. Meanwhile Jake and Amber had broken apart. Amber noticed something shining on the ground. At the exact moment that Angela leapt at her Amber bent down to pick whatever it was up. Angela soared right over Amber passing by Jake and flew off the bridge into the water. Amber stood up.

"Jake is this yours?" she asked holding up a bracelet.

"Yeah, but you keep it," Jake said grinning from ear to ear.

"What's so funny?" Amber asked.

At this point Angela's cries for help reached them. Amber raised an eyebrow and Jake's smile just grew. He wrapped an arm around her and lead her off the bridge and to his cabin promising to tell her what was so funny when they were in his cabin. The two were soon cuddled up in his hammock. Amber too was grinning after hearing what she had accidentally done to Angela. And as for Angela. She was saved but it was a good twenty minutes before that happened.

**The next day**

The entire crew had heard about Jake and Amber's newly formed relationship. However a sharp talking to from April had stopped any teasing or bugging.

"Gooood Morning," Jake said in a sing song voice as he walked up to April who was standing on the bridge. They had set off through the Ocean of Darkness a few minute ago.

"Morning Master," April said smiling slightly. She hadn't seen him this happy in quite a while. "Why the good mood?"

"Well I realized how great my life is," Jake said his voice more controlled. "I have a great and loyal crew. I have a wonderful and capable apprentice. Life is good."

"Except," Amber said suddenly appearing on the bridge. "That we're about to head into the Ocean of Darkness. Then go to the Dark Isle. And then fight off one of the most powerful demons there is." Jake chuckled slightly as he walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Well I suppose one of us will have to stay realistic," he muttered. She laughed at this.

"So what's dangerous about the Ocean of Darkness?" Amber asked him as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'll tell you after I get my good morning kiss," Jake replied. At this Amber smiled and gave him a kiss while April slipped off the bridge to give them some privacy.

"Right there's your good morning kiss," Amber said breaking the kiss after a while. "Where's my answer?"

"Right," Jake said turning them around to face the Ocean. "The Ocean of Darkness is inhabited by shape-shifting creatures. They live underwater, but arise whenever someone tries to cross the ocean. They can only shape-shift to the form of a mythological creature. You know like a dragon or a griffin or a sphinx. Their favorite form is that of a dragon. They're extremely dangerous. The only person ever to get past them was the Hawk. Well technically he did it twice. Once with his crew and once without."

"The Hawk sounds pretty impressive," Amber commented. "And you seem to know a lot about him."

"He's my hero," Jake answered. "My role-model. He and I became pirates for the same reason. We have the same ethics about being a pirate. I even have his original journal." Amber nodded. The two remained in each other's arms watching the Ocean of Darkness.

**Half an hour later**

Jake, Amber, April and the rest of the crew could see the Dark Isle in the distance.

"We have to be careful," Jake muttered. "The creatures are probably around here somewhere. They could appear at any moment. They'll probably turn up as a dragon and shift shape later."

"Err…Master?" April said.

"Yeah?" Jake said still scanning the sea in front of him.

"Would these creatures look all black and shadowy, be gigantic, have red glowing eyes and breathe fire?" April asked nervously.

"Yeah that sounds about right," Jake answered thinking it over. "Why?"

"Because I think I just found one," April said. Jake turned around and gulped slightly. There behind the ship was a GIGANTIC dragon. The dragon looked down at the ship with it's glowing red eyes.

"I don't suppose you would be interested in a cup of tea would you?" Jake asked the dragon. He saw Amber and April giving him skeptical looks. The dragon roared fiercely in response to his question. "It was worth a shot" Jake muttered shrugging.

The dragon swung it's massive tail at the ship. Jake quickly put up a force field around the ship that managed to stop the blow. The dragon opened it's mouth and blew fire at the ship. Luckily Amber reacted quickly. She muttered a spell that caused a used gush of water to raise up from the sea and went straight down the dragon's throat. The dragon was slightly taken a back and Jake used this moment to use his powers to push the dragon into the water.

"That was easy," April commented. "Guess they're not that tough after all," At this the dragon rose out of the water along with several other dragons, griffins and a few sphinxes. "I just had to open my BIIIG mouth."

All the creatures raced at the ship at the same time. Jake put up a shield around the ship. The creatures hit the force field hard and Jake barely managed to hold up the shield.

"KEEP GOING!!!" Jake ordered as he continued to hold up the force field. "Amber April do something I can't hold it for long." Amber and April instantly sent an attack at one of the creatures, but the creatures remained unfazed.

"Shit!!" Amber muttered. April also muttered something ruder, but Amber had learnt to block out their curses.

"What now??" April asked. "How did the Hawk get past them?"

"He didn't mention it in his journal," Jake answered straining to keep up the force field while he tried to think of a way out of this one. _Any time you want to have a chat just hold it up and say 'Lead me to Galaxy' and it'll teleport you to wherever I am._ "Galaxy," he whispered to himself. "Amber put up a force field. I need to do something that might help." Amber nodded and put up a force field of her own.

Jake raced off the deck and into his cabin. Striker was on his perch looking out of the window. Jake had ordered him to stay there because he didn't want him getting hurt.

Jake pulled out the chain that Galaxy had given him from underneath his shirt. He always carried it, but had never shown it to any of the crew or even Amber.

"Lead me to Galaxy," he said holding up the pendant. Instantly a whirlwind started around him and in a flash he was standing in a cave. It was different from the one he had met Galaxy in earlier. Galaxy was seated in the center of the cave.

"Hello little one," Galaxy said looking at him. "What's wrong?"

"We're in the Ocean of Darkness and under attack," Jake said. "Those creatures that haunt it are attacking our ship. We're holding up force fields and trying to attack, but nothing works. We need help!!!"

"Right," Galaxy said. "Jake this is going to be difficult. One of you will have to dive into the water in the center of the Ocean. You'll have to swim to the bottom. There you will find a golden dragon sleeping in an orb." She paused and used her powers to bring a book across the room and land in Jake's hands. It was a spell book. It opened to a page with a picture of a dragon sleeping in an orb. "Use that spell to awaken it. Don't worry the book is waterproof. And just thinking the spell is enough. That dragon will be able to destroy the other creatures. But be careful little one only the Hawk has managed it."

"If the Hawk knew you and used this spell why didn't he mention you in his journal?" Jake asked.

"I told him not to," Galaxy replied. "Only the ones I choose are allowed to know of my presence and I sensed his journal would someday become extremely well known. Now go little one and be careful." With that Galaxy teleported him back to the ship.

Jake landed in his cabin and raced up on to the deck. He went up on the bridge where Amber was still holding up the force field. April was helping her by using some of her power to reinforce the force field. He ran up to Amber.

"Amber I found a way to stop them," he said. She looked at him. "It means you holding up this field a little longer and me going into the Ocean."

"What???!!!" Amber said staring at him. "You'll die!!!"

"It's the only way," Jake whispered. Amber stared at him for a while then sighed and nodded.

They shared a quick kiss and then Jake leapt back on the deck and stood near the edge. He took out a oxygen mask from one of his pockets. He put it on and waited for Amber to open a space in the force field for him to jump out of. Amber did so and Jake quickly and quietly leapt into the water.

Jake used his powers to swim downwards as quickly as he could. Before long he was in sight off the bottom. Luckily most of the creatures seemed to have headed to the surface. Jake reached the bottom of the Ocean and looked around. And then he saw the orb. It was exactly like the picture in the book. Jake swam towards the orb.

_This is easy._ He thought to himself. He had just approached the orb when he thought this and the instant his feet touched the ground it shook and a HUGE dragon that had been lying on the ground rose upwards throwing him backwards. _Oh shit._

The dragon raced towards Jake. Jake quickly said hi chant to himself and sent a beam of energy at the dragon. The dragon staggered back a little. It raised it's tail and brought it crashing towards Jake who quickly put up a force field to stop it. The dragon roared and suddenly two energy beams came shooting out of it's eyes. Jake's eyes widened and he quickly started to swim away. The dragon moved it's head so that the beams followed Jake.

_That's a trick._ Jake thought to himself as he quickly ducked into a crevice.

The dragon headed at him and stuck as much of it's head into the crevice as it could and tried to grab Jake in it's teeth. Jake pressed himself against the wall of the crevice trying to avoid the dragon's teeth. Finally he raised a hand and used a mental spell to make a beam of energy clasp around the dragon's mouth. The dragon pulled back and tried to break the beam. Jake swam out of the crevice and started sending energy ball after energy ball at the dragon who remained unfazed and continued to try to break the beam surrounding it's mouth.

Jake looked around desperately searching for something to help him. His came to rest on an underwater rock formation. The rocks were huge and all looked a bit wobbly. He smiled to himself and swam towards it. He swam to the top of it. He then used a spell to release the dragon who looked around for him. Spotting him the dragon raced towards the rocks. Jake crossed his fingers hoping it would do what he wanted it to. Fortunately the dragon did exactly what he wanted and sent it's eye beams at him. Jake moved around avoiding the beams and causing them to hit the rocks. In a few seconds the dragon reached the base of the rocks and started heading upwards. Jake now sent his own ball of energy at the rocks and that was it. The rocks all started to collapse. Jake put up a force field and quickly and moved out of the way, but the dragon wasn't quick or lucky enough to avoid the avalanche and was sent hurtling to the ground and buried under rocks. Jake quickly swam back to the orb not bothering to look back.

He had attached the book to his belt and he opened it to the assigned page. He said the spell in his mind and looked up at the orb. At first nothing happened, but then slowly he noticed the dragon's eyes opening. The dragon opened it's eyes and stared at him. Then slowly the orb started to glow. The glow grew brighter and brighter until Jake couldn't even look at it. Then suddenly it exploded. Jake was thrown backwards. He sat up and saw the mighty dragon staring at him. It was bigger than all the others in the Ocean. It was golden in colour. It had huge fangs and claws. But it's brilliant blue eyes gave it away. It's eyes held a peaceful and caring air. It had an almost sweet expression on it's face.

"_What's wrong little one? Why did you summon me?"_ a voice said in Jake's head. Jake realized it was the dragon. He spared a second to ponder whether Galaxy had told all dragons in existence to call him little one.

"_My friends are in danger,"_ Jake told the dragon telepathically. _"They're under attack from the creatures here. A dragon friend of mine named Galaxy told me that you'd help us."_ The dragon nodded. It turned slightly so that it's side faced Jake.

"_On my back,"_ the dragon told him.

Jake swam on to the dragon's back and after being instructed to seated himself near it's shoulders holding on to it for dear life. The dragon spread it's massive wings and took off towards the surface. They reached the surface in a few seconds and the dragon flew into the sky. Jake took off his oxygen mask and looked around.

"There they are!!" he said pointing.

The dragon flew towards them. Amber and April were still managing to hold up the force field. Half the crew was working on getting the ship out of the Ocean while the other half was firing attacks at the creatures.

**On the deck**

Amber and April were still on the deck. Demetri came running towards them.

"Miss Amber look!!!" he exclaimed holding a pair of binoculars in front of her eyes. Amber looked through the binoculars.

"A giant golden dragon??!!" Amber exclaimed.

"Look at what's on it's back near it's shoulders," Demetri told her. Amber did so and gasped.

"Only you Jake could get a giant golden dragon to come and help you," she muttered.

**Back to Jake**

The dragon gave a LOUD and FIERCE roar as it approached the ship. All the creatures looked up. The dragon started to glow. All the creatures started to let out cries of pain and looked as if they were being tied up.

"Err…Mr. Dragon?" Jake began.

"Call me Sunrider" the dragon said.

"Sunrider, what did you do to them?" Jake asked.

"It's a special power of mine little one," Sunrider replied. "It causes creatures with great evil in their hearts to experience quite a bit of pain and to be partially paralyzed. But it's not enough to destroy them."

"How do you destroy them?" Jake asked.

"Hold on," Sunrider said. And without giving Jake a second to react he dove towards the creatures.

Sunrider formed a ball of energy in his mouth and sent it at one of the creatures. Unlike with Jake and others however when this energy ball hit the creature it went right through it. The creature roared in pain and collapsed. Sunrider sent attack after attack until nearly all the creatures had been destroyed. A few managed to get back into the water and swim away. Amber and April let down the force field. Sunrider came down so that he was level with the bridge of the ship.

"Hey guys," Jake called. "Have you met my new friend?" At this Sunrider raised a gigantic paw and waved at them. The crew slowly waved back. "Sunrider can Amber come up here?"

"Off course," Sunrider replied. Jake indicated for Amber to join him and she used the force to leap on to the dragon's back. "Now then follow me in your ship. That way the creatures here won't bother you." Sunrider told the crew, who simply nodded. With that the mighty dragon started to head for the Dark Isle.

"How??" Amber asked staring at Jake.

"Let's just say dragons seem to enjoy helping me," Jake answered chuckling slightly. He wrapped his arms around her. The two shared a kiss.

"I love you," Amber said.

"I love you too," he said.

Jake sat down on Sunrider's back and Amber sat beside him. She laid her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her. The two sat and talked about anything and everything. Later on the two remembered even having a discussion on broccoli. Though how they started talking about it neither could remember.

**About an hour later**

Jake, Amber and the crew had reached the Dark Isle. They started to sail to the western side.

"Little one this is as far as I go," Sunrider said. Amber and Jake nodded. Amber said bye and leapt down on to the ship. Jake was about to go as well when Sunrider stopped him. "Little one round my neck is a chain. Do you see it?" Jake looked at Sunrider's neck and found the chain. "There are several pendants on it. Take one. Whenever you need me hold it up and say 'I summon Sunrider' and I'll come to you." Jake found a pendant and took it off. He attached it to the chain that Galaxy had given him.

"Well goodbye," Jake said. "It was nice to meet you. I hope we meet again."

"Goodbye little one," Sunrider said smiling at him. With that Jake leapt on to the ship. Sunrider waved goodbye and took off back towards the Ocean of Darkness.

"Right," Jake said after Sunrider was quite a way off. "Let's get going. We still have to sail to the western side." The crew nodded and set to work. Amber, April and Jake stood on the bridge watching them. "April?"

"Yes Master?" April asked.

"Could you just take charge for a bit?" Jake asked. "I'm feeling a bit sick. I think I should lie down."

"Sure thing Master," April replied. Jake nodded and headed towards his cabin. "Why's he suddenly feeling unwell?" April asked looking at Amber.

"I think it's the fact we're so close to his parents," Amber said after a while. "It has been a long time since he last saw them. And we are close to Draconis. I guess he's a little nervous. I think I should go talk to him."

April nodded and Amber also headed to Jake's cabin. Amber walked to Jake's cabin and entered to find Jake pacing up and down the length of it.

"Hey, are you alright?" Amber asked waking him up from his thoughts. Jake looked up at her startled out of his thoughts. He sighed. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Jake said sitting down on the floor with his legs crossed. Amber sat down in front of him.

"Nervous about facing Draconis?" she asked.

"No, not really. It's just…" he trailed off. Amber gently took his hand in hers and squeezed it. "I'm going to see them all again after five years!" Amber knew who he was referring to. "I've been gone sooo long. I mean sooo much has changed. When I last saw Ethan he was a baby. Now he's all grown up. And Opal is a well settled in teenager. And I'm a pirate. What will they think of me??" he hung his head. Amber leaned forward and pulled him into a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around her.

"Jake, listen to me," Amber said finally. He looked at her. "Your parents and your sister and your brother love you. And no matter what happens they'll always love you. Okay?" Jake nodded and smiled at her.

"Thanks" he said leaning forward and kissing her.

"No problem" she replied after they had broken apart. She moved so that she was sitting next to him. He wrapped his arm around her as she placed her head on his shoulder.

"I love you," he whispered as he placed a kiss on her forehead.

"I love you too," she replied smiling up at him. The two remained in Jake's cabin just talking and enjoying each other's presence.

**Half an hour later on the deck**

Amber and Jake walked up to the bridge of the ship. Striker was perched on Amber's shoulder. April was standing there looking ahead of them. They could all see the rocks that they would have to cross to be able to enter the Dark Isle. April turned to face them as they approached.

"Master, we're nearly there," she said. Jake nodded and stared out at the rocks as they grew nearer and nearer. When they were a few feet away Jake addressed the crew.

"Everyone readiiee…" before he could finish the ship suddenly lurched towards the rocks. "What the…??!!"

"Jake it's somehow pulling us in!!" Amber shouted.

"Demetri get the wheel!!" Jake shouted. Demetri grabbed hold of the wheel and desperately tried to steer the ship away from the rocks. Suddenly a mysterious wind picked up and began to drive them straight towards the rocks. The wind was soon equivalent to a gale. "The sail!!" Jake shouted. "Get the sail down and get out of here…"

"Jake it's pointless," Amber shouted over the wind. She was in the process of attaching a rope tied to her belt on to the railing of the bridge. April was doing the same. She also had Striker inside her jacket which was securely buttoned up. "We'll have to do this sooner or later." Jake looked at her, sighed and nodded.

"Get the sail down and tie yourselves on to something," Jake shouted and instantly the crew started to do so. "Now get ready to go past those rocks." Demetri prepared himself for the most difficult steering he would ever face. Kai stood near the tip of the ship serving as a lookout.

"Here we go" Jake muttered.

Sure enough at that exact moment the ship fell/flew off a small slope and was right in front of the rocks. The ship started to move through the rocks Demetri steering as best he could. The typhoon that had started up didn't help much either. It was obviously a magical one that guarded the Isle because the wind would conveniently change direction when they were near a rock so that it was pushing them towards it. The crew was clinging on to anything that was stuck to the deck to stop from flying overboard. On the bridge Jake could hear Striker's cries above the wind as April tried to calm him down. Suddenly a huge wave crashed into the ship sending the ship into a huge rock. The sound of wood being torn apart could be heard. The waves started to rise higher. Water from the waves swept over the ship. A few actually went completely over the vessel. The entire crew was drenched as they dodged rock after rock.

"Captain we're taking in water through the gap," Eliza shouted. "Not that much, but eventually…" she trailed off.

It wouldn't have made a difference if she had tried to continue anyways because at that moment a wave swept over the deck sending her across it. Jake scanned the area trying to think about how to get out of this one. There wasn't enough time to get to Galaxy or summon Sunrider. He pulled out a pair of binoculars from one of his infinite number of pockets. He held them to his eyes and looked around. He noticed a particular rock that looked like a giant ramp. He removed the binoculars.

"Bingo" he muttered to himself. "Demetri…"

But before he could finish his sentence a huge wave swept over the deck and crashed into Demetri sending him across the deck. The wind caught him and his life line tore and he headed over the side of the ship. Fortunately Jennifer was standing nearby and grabbed hold of his hand and pulled him back up. Demetri tied himself to the side of the ship. Jake quickly leapt off the bridge and grabbed hold of the wheel. The gale was getting stronger every second and it had started to pour cats and dogs. Jake steered the ship out of the way of the rocks with practiced skill. It was tough. None of them had ever seen such a bad storm.

"AMBER!!" Jake shouted. Amber leapt off the bridge and stood near him.

"What?" she asked.

"I have an idea," he said. "Can you control the ship for a while? You need to steer it towards that big rock that's shaped like a ramp."

"Right," Amber said talking hold of the wheel.

Jake had no doubts about her steering skills. The two had gone out sailing all the time when they were younger. In fact quite a few times they had gone after their parents to summon a magical storm for them to practice their skills against. Jake leapt back on to the deck and used his powers to grab hold of the rolled up sail and all the ropes used to control it.

"Jake, what are you going to do??" Amber asked as she pulled the ship away from a gigantic rock for what already felt like the thousandth time.

"Fly," he replied.

"What??!!" Amber asked.

"We're going to use that rock that's like a ramp," Jake explained as he organized the ropes. "The wind will be pushing us towards it. It actually already is. When we're close enough I'll use the sail to use the wind to give us a sort of push that will lift the front of the ship at least on to the rock. We'll then take off the ramp and we'll use the wind to soar over the rocks. Or at least as far across the rocks as we can go." (AN: I know that's impossible, but hey they're on a magical planet being pushed on to rocks by a magical wind) Amber nodded.

The ship started to head for the rock. Jake held on to ropes with his powers mentally making calculations. They were getting closer and closer.

"Amber you have to tell me when I should release the sail," Jake said. Amber nodded. They were getting closer and closer.

"JAKE, NOW!!!" Amber shouted.

At this point Jake released the sail and using the ropes turned it so that it was tilted upwards. The sail caught the wind and lifted the top of the ship on to the rock.

"Jake, we're on the rock," Amber shouted as she tried to keep the ship heading straight ahead. Jake nodded.

Jake lowered the sail so that it caught the wind and sent them full speed ahead up the rock. The ship went up the ramp and flew into the air. The win confused by the sudden change of area of the ship started to blow upwards. Jake turned the sail so that it was almost completely vertical, but tilted enough so that it moved forward. The entire ship soared over the rocks. The ship was slowly losing altitude.

"Jake we're almost over the rocks," Amber shouted. "But we're losing altitude." Jake nodded.

They got lower and lower until it was barely a few feet over the water. Then suddenly the wind stopped completely and the ship dropped on to the water. Jake looked around, let out a sigh and let go of the sail and it's ropes. The ship had landed just past the rocks.

"Jake you did it," Amber shouted abandoning the wheel and jumping onto the bridge.

"No, we did it," Jake said pulling her into a kiss. They broke apart when they heard April let out an awkward cough. They both blushed when they noticed most of the crew watching them with amused expressions. Jake kept his arms around Amber. "Right, we have to keep going. That way we can reach the shore, move our supplies inland and get a good night's sleep. Or at least as close to a good night's sleep as we're going to get in the Dark Isle."

The crew nodded and set about getting everything together most still with smiles on their faces. Demetri started to steer the ship towards the shore. Jennifer and Troy set about making food that would last for a few days, just in case it took them a while. Both had huge belief in the saying 'Better safe than sorry'. The rest of the crew set about getting together other such supplies and repairing the part of the ship that had been smashed. Jake and Amber remained on the deck.

"Well we're almost there," Jake commented as he gave Amber a slight squeeze. Amber smiled at him reassuringly.

"Everything's going to be alright," she assured him.

"I know, but what if…" Jake began.

"Jake everything's going to be okay," Amber said. "Remember no matter what your parents will always love you. And they will always be proud of you no matter what you do." Jake nodded slightly and pulled her into a kiss.

"What would I do without you?" he said rhetorically after they had broken the kiss.

"Without me around Angela would have probably driven you insane by now," Amber said with a slight chuckle. Jake laughed and gave her another kiss.

* * *

Well that's chapter 7

Next chapter's one of my favourites. It's one of the darkest ones.

I'll post it in a week or so

Until then.

Dragon. Out.


End file.
